


A Curious Thing

by Keeks1664



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Complete, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Romance, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-02-28 20:12:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 50,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18763381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keeks1664/pseuds/Keeks1664
Summary: It's seven years after the War and the Hogwarts Alumnus are still dealing with the after effects of being child soldiers. A vindictive Hermione sets in motion a series of events she never wanted. War is a curious thing, don't you think? DM/HG. Post-Hogwarts. EWE. Rated M. COMPLETE.





	1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first fic! It came to me after binge reading Dramione fics for two weeks. This story is dedicated to my beautiful betas flightysophist and my husband! Without their support and critiques I never would've had the courage to post this! Please review! I have up to chapter three on fanfiction, so I'll be posting those chapters then one everyday forward!**

**DISCLAIMER:** "Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This fanfiction was written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.

**MAIN CHARACTERS:** Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom, Theodore Nott, Luna Lovegood

**SUMMARY:**  Hermione hasn't been the same since the War. In fact, if the Sorting Hat were to sit upon her head, she might've been sorted into Slytherin. Draco can't help but be intrigued by the exciting new Granger. How far could he bend her morals before she breaks?

**RATING: MA (NC-17)**

**WARNINGS:**  Drug/alcohol abuse, explicit sexual situations, violence, torture, self mutilation, strong profanity, implied rape, disturbing situations

* * *

**A CURIOUS THING**

Hermione laid on her familiar bed, in her familiar room, sweaty and tangled up with the familiar man she had been shagging her for years. She didn't feel guilty about their arrangement, it had been going on for so long and no one had seemed to notice. So what was there to be guilty about?

Hermione rolled away from the sticky skin of the now snoring man and numbly wondered how she should be feeling.

Good? She just had an orgasm. Tired? Definitely. But there was nothing substantial about how she was feeling. She thought back to the first time she shagged this man.

* * *

_There was utter blackness and crippling silence aside from the crackle of a distant fire. Hermione laid in the too stiff cot and felt the rage burning in her chest._

How could Ron be so bloody obtuse?  _She thought to herself, she was worried about the Weasley family too but that doesn't excuse leaving their mission because of some tussle with Harry._

_She could feel her frustration leak out of the corner of her eyes again. She angrily brushed her tears away and sniffed loudly._

" _Hermione?"_

" _I'm fine Harry, do you need to switch off and take a rest?" Harry had been out keeping watch over the camp for at least three hours. Sleep evaded her but she couldn't keep laying here hoping Ron would somehow find them._

" _No that's alright, I wanted to check on you. I… I'm worried about him too." The voice sat next to her on her cot._

" _I'm just so angry that he would actually leave. I know he won't be able to find us and leaving a trail would be too dangerous. I just can't believe him." Hermione sat up to face the direction Harry's voice came from._

" _I shouldn't have provoked him. I know how much more he's affected by the Horcrux but I let my temper get the best of me. Now it's just us and it's my fault. I'm so sorry, 'Mione, I made this impossible task that much harder." Harry's voice dripped with self pity and guilt. Hermione reached out into the darkness and pulled him into a hug to console him knowing he was right but blowing up at him wouldn't fix the situation._

_In the midst of pulling Harry in Hermione's nose bumped against his lower lip. He paused to gently kiss it before settling into her embrace. Maybe it was the fact that their best friend just walked out on them, maybe it was the crushing pressure that was now on their shoulders alone or maybe it was because they were teenagers and it was dark. Harry's mouth moved against Hermione's neck in languid kisses._

_The feeling sent jolts of electricity down Hermione's spine. This behaviour was new for Harry even though they were an affectionate bunch. She hadn't had any private time to feel any sort of release in months. It wasn't as if Harry was an unattractive boy but she hadn't thought about him in that way before._

" _Harry… wait…" she hesitated. She had lost her virginity to Viktor last summer but she wasn't sure if Harry had been with anyone before, "I've already… with Viktor… But - "_

_Harry cut her off, "It's fine Hermione, I just… we don't have to. I feel so much more alone than I ever have. I don't want to make you uncomfortable, I just need... " It was an open ended statement waiting for Hermione to decide._

_She pulled back, quickly contemplated the ramifications but the thrill of a release was too good to pass up and gently kissed his lips for the first time. Harry pushed her back onto the cot and positioned himself over her without taking his mouth from hers. It was an awkward fumble of getting clothes off in the dark without separating at the mouth. Once down to their knickers, Harry's mouth moved down her throat to her shoulder to bite gently and suck. Hermione gasped and moved her hand her down body to prepare herself. The combined sensation of a mouth moving across her body and her hand working in its usual motion made her audibly moan. Under all the stress she didn't realise how badly she needed this. Needed someone to show her she wasn't alone. She wasn't expecting the best from Harry, it being what she assumed was his first time, but something is better than nothing at this point._

_Her moan sent Harry into high gear. He tore at their knickers and felt if she was ready for him. She grabbed her wand, pointed it at her belly and whispered the contraception charm. "You'll have to teach me that later," Harry roughly whispered before he deeply kissed her._

_As he entered her they both let out loud moans._ Thank Merlin for those wards _, Hermione thought. His pace wasn't entirely smooth but soon she could feel the beginnings of an orgasm creep up on her. She took one of her hands from Harry's back and started rubbing little circles over her clit. She worked herself with vigour as Harry continued to erratically thrust into her. She was soon sent over the edge and saw stars as she came down. Shortly after Harry followed suit._

_He kissed her temple, still on top of her. "Thank you. I know that's weird to say right after shagging but I just needed…" He was lost for words._

" _A release. Me too," Hermione finished for him. A worrying thought entered her mind, "Harry, what does this mean for us? I'm not sure I... "_

" _I don't want to sound harsh but I don't think dating would be a very good idea seeing as how the world might end," he replied gently._

" _I entirely agree. That was a lot of fun and I still love you but I don't think in_ that  _way," she said, nervously waiting his response._

_He huffed a relieved sigh, "Yeah. You're brilliant, and that was brilliant! But maybe we could just do this whenever we feel like another release."_

_Hermione smiled into the darkness, "Alright, I think that's a great idea. I would prefer if we didn't tell anyone about it though. You have Ginny waiting for you and Ron…"_ It didn't matter, it was just sex,  _she reassured herself. No one would get hurt if they didn't talk about it._

" _Yeah, should we agree when things are less," she felt him wave his hand in circles in the air, "with them that we stop?"_

" _That works for me. Now will you get off of me? You're not exactly light."_

* * *

What was a tumble in a tent became a tradition for the two. Hermione and Ron didn't work out as a couple after their quick snog in the Chamber of Secrets. She didn't feel any passion or excitement. Harry and Ginny picked up right away and it didn't bother Hermione. It was right around the time that nothing seemed to bother her anymore.

Harry became an Auror after they won the war. When he was 22 years old, Ginny moved out of Grimmauld Place because of his reckless behaviour while he hunted Dark Wizards. He would take on the most dangerous cases and make a point of getting into duels or fist fights with whoever he was hunting. When he refused to stop or slow down after Ginny's many attempts to reason with him, she left.

Whenever he came back into town, maybe once or twice a month, he would go over to Hermione's flat for tea, discuss the scenery of his latest trip and shag in her room. They'd continued their arrangement for the last five years now. Much to Hermione's pleasure, Harry's technique had improved dramatically since their rumpus in the tent.

Even after five years of sharing her bed with him, she had never felt romantic inclinations towards Harry and she assumed the same from him. It was easier to have someone she already knew when her hand wasn't enough and who didn't require constant emotional support.

While Harry was with Ginny, Hermione started dating Hannah Abbott. Or rather, Hannah sought Hermione out after the war had ended. It seemed as if everyone was shocked by Hermione's choice in partner. It made perfect sense to her. After seven years of picking up after two boys, why not give Hannah a shot? She hadn't thought about Hannah that way before, but she hadn't thought of Harry that way either and had ended up with a decent fuck buddy. She dated Hannah for about six months before Hannah blew her lid.

" _I can't take this anymore, 'Mione! I know the war took its toll on all of us but you won't even bloody talk to me! I know expanding S.P.E.W takes time but you're literally never home anymore! I'm here now, and I want to help you heal but you won't give it or me the time of day. Gods, will you even look at me?"_

When Hermione didn't look at her girlfriend she knew they were over. Hannah stormed out of Hermione's flat and never returned for her things. Even in hindsight, Hermione knew Hannah was just trying to "help her", but it was unnecessary, she was fine. Better, even. She didn't feel lonely or sad anymore, she didn't worry about how others were feeling, she just focused on her work. Thanks to that mindset, she was able to buy her flat and the coffee and bookshop underneath it. She had renamed the shop, "Wotcher", which she recalled afterwards was Tonks' favourite greeting. The sentiment made Harry teary eyed but Hermione thought it was simply a catchy name that would stand out from other shops on Diagon Alley.

Since then, Hermione's life had taken on a wonderful routine. Ten hours or so of work at the Ministry managing the S.P.E.W Unit, home for dinner around six in the evening then to the shop for some tea and reading until bedtime at ten. If she was feeling particularly restless, she would take a trip to Greece for some short term companionship from a local or two. All in all, Hermione was quite content with the little life she had built for herself.

* * *

Harry woke suddenly from his postcoitus nap with a snort to see Hermione at the far edge of the bed, "Hey. Alright, 'Mione?"

Hermione got off the bed and pulled her silk dressing gown on, "Yeah, I was just thinking. How was your nap?"

Harry moaned and yawned as he stretched his cracking joints, "Good. Thanks for letting me rest. Do you want to Floo call Ron and see if he wants to grab dinner tonight?'

"Sure, but get out of my bed. You smell absolutely minging," she wrinkled her nose, "Did you even bother to shower before you came over here?"

Harry frowned, "No, sorry, I came straight here from Cairo and I leave for Bosnia tomorrow morning so I didn't want to waste any time before I saw you and Ron."

Harry made for the shower when she left the room without a response. He was a little worried about Hermione. He hadn't noticed anything was different about her while he was with Ginny, but now, he could see that she was either irate or indifferent when he did see her. Hermione was always a workaholic and ambitious but as far as he knew her only social interactions were with himself and Ron when Harry was in town. He knew better than to confront her about something she didn't want to talk about, especially since her temper had become more volatile as the years went on. Besides, what could he possibly do? He wasn't even in the country enough to watch her any closer. Ron was out of the question, he had a two year old and Romilda was pregnant again, so needless to say, he had his hands full.

"Ron will meet us at  _Launceston Place_  in thirty minutes, so hurry up," Hermione called through the shower door, yanking Harry from his troubled thoughts.

Harry quickly dried off and  _Scourgified_ his clothing to see Hermione smoothing her hair with Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. She really was beautiful and had grown into her looks, Harry observed. Her hair was long, wavy and was always smoothed aside from when they shagged.  _Does age cause hair to straighten out?_ , he offhandedly wondered. She wore mascara often but tonight she lined her upper lid. She was wearing a charcoal grey knee length wool dress that hugged her entire body cinched with a thin belt at her waist. Harry shifted his pants to obscure the view of growing desire. He didn't know how she stayed in shape but,  _Merlin_ , what a body.

"Do you need something? I'm almost done," Hermione smiled at Harry's reflection in her vanity mirror.

Harry coughed and began fruitlessly fiddling with his untameable hair in the mirror, "No, you just look really nice and I look like I just got in from the desert." He huffed and gave up on his hair.

Hermione snickered as she put on her cloak, "Well that'll teach you to not show up unshowered next time." She held her elbow out to Harry to Side Along Apparate.

Harry gaped as he took her arm, "Is that why we're going to such a nice restaurant?"

Hermione gave him a devilish smile and wink before Apparating to their meeting spot with Ron.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I still don't own Harry Potter and I'm not making money off this.

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

Hermione and Harry sat down at their table and ordered their drinks shortly before a tall red head came barrelling through the restaurant, "Sorry I'm late, guys! Freddy wouldn't go down and Romilda is exhausted." Ron pulled Hermione up into a tight hug, "You look great! How was tea?"

"Fine," Hermione replied nonchalantly. After nearly eight years of this secret charade, she found it quite easy to redirect conversations, "Harry got his wizard and received only one black eye this time."

Ron pulled away from embracing Harry, "Oi, mate, that doesn't look it was fun," Ron scolded his friend. "Any broken ribs or punctured lungs?" He playfully poked at Harry's belly.

Harry chuckled as he sat back down, "No, it wasn't as big of a struggle as I thought it would be. Tomorrow though, I'm tracking a Dark Wizard who might have … Is that Luna?" Harry cut himself off as he stared at a pale woman with long blond hair and turnips as earrings.

"I think that might be, but anyway you were saying about this Dark Wizard?" Hermione lightly replied as she sipped her wine. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Luna, she just hadn't seen her in years and felt no desire to awkwardly ask what was new or how things were going and pretend to be interested.

Harry had already gotten up and approached Luna's table. He spoke a few words to the blonde woman and pulled her up into an excited embrace. He turned and pointed to Ron and Hermione and waved them over. Hermione inaudibly gave an angry sigh, this was supposed to be a quiet dinner between the three of them.

As she approached the table she saw Harry embrace Neville then stop cold as he stared into a corner Hermione couldn't see from her angle yet.

"Hello, Hermione," Luna's airy voice pulled her eyes from Harry's shocked stance, "It's been a very long time since I saw you. You look very fit."

"Very fit indeed," a warm drawl came from the corner seat, Hermione's eyes snapped to the owner of it, "Hello, Granger."

"Malfoy?" Hermione's brain raced to catch up,  _What are Luna and Neville doing here with Draco Malfoy?_  "Uh, hi. Nice to see you again, Neville," she nodded politely across the table at the tall, dark haired man.

Harry finally found his voice, it came out as a warning, "What are you doing here with them?"

"Relax, Potter," Malfoy sneered, "Neville and I are mates from work and we're out to dinner. What brings about the reunion of the Golden Trio?"

Just as Ron was about to launch into a tirade of abuses, Luna answered serenely, "Well based on Harry's appearance it looks like he's back from his travels. Where were you this time, Harry?"

Luna's calm demeanor broke the tension effectively as Harry stuttered, "Er, Cairo. I was there on Auror business."

There was a beat of silence and Hermione took advantage of it to make an escape, "Well we won't keep you. Enjoy your dinner. Neville, Luna, lovely to see you. Malfoy," She nodded in Malfoy's direction, "Boys, shall we?"

"Nonsense, Hermione!" Neville reached across Luna to grab Ron's arm, "Please sit with us and we can all catch up! It's been far too long."

Neville's hopeful smile might at one point had pulled on Hermione's heartstrings but they were long since severed, "No, I don't think so, thank you."

Ron gave Hermione an affronted stare, "Uh, no it's alright, we would love to eat with you. Thank you for the invitation, Neville" As everyone grabbed seats to pull up to the table, Ron gave Harry a worried look. Harry nodded knowingly; they would have to talk in private.

Harry sat at the far end of the table between Malfoy and Neville. Ron had taken the head of the table which only left a spot between him and Malfoy. The discomfort on Hermione's face was not lost on Malfoy, "Come cozy up Granger, lots to chat about, lots to catch up on." He grinned devilishly at her.

Hermione's caramel eyes blazed with rage as she sat next to him, "Yes, why don't we? How was Azkaban?"

The jab didn't seem to phase Malfoy at all as he tsked, "Now Granger, you know I didn't get thrown in thanks to Scarface. Thanks again for that, mate," Malfoy clapped Harry's stiff shoulder, "Now that you know all about me, what about you? How are you so fit?" He rested his elbow on the table to support his chin in mock wonderment at Hermione.

There was another beat of awkward silence. Neville broke it this time, "How is Romilda doing, Ron? I hear she's pregnant again."

Ron visibly relaxed and smiled, "Yeah, she's seven months along now. She's good, just tired, you know. Freddy just turned two so he's quite the handful."

"Do you get to see Freddy often, Hermione? I imagine you probably don't get to see them as much, Harry," Neville enquired.

"Actually, no. I'm too busy at work for visiting, I'm sure Harry does see them more than I do," replied Hermione not feeling a shred of guilt. She  _was_  too busy with work, plus Freddy was only two, it's not as if he'll remember her not being around.

Silence.

Malfoy eyed Hermione inquisitively with a smirk, as if he were impressed.

Luckily, for everyone's discomfort except Hermione and Malfoy's, the waiter approached the table and took everyone's orders.

Harry politely questioned Neville about his job with Malfoy. Malfoy hired him to head the Herbology unit of the Potions sector and they spend a lot of their free time researching cures for Curse victims.

"How very noble of you," Hermione muttered so only Malfoy would hear.

"Yes, well. Everyone has to do their part. Besides, Potions are highly lucrative for this new generation of fucked up veterans. Draught of Peace sells so quickly we can barely keep up. I'm richer than my parents ever were," Malfoy goaded but to his surprise Hermione chuckled.

"That's a good point. Very clever, Malfoy," she replied before she sipped her butternut squash soup.

This brief, dark interaction was unheard by everyone at the table as Luna and Ron were also engrossed in their own discussion on how to keep spiders out of the store room at  _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_. Ron was managing the shop with George but kept running out of the store room screaming while he retrieved product. He suspected George was somehow enchanting them to stay and scare Ron.

* * *

Hermione kissed Ron and Harry on the cheeks, gave Luna and Neville stiff hugs and nodded at Malfoy before Apparating home. Malfoy silently nodded to the rest and Apparted away shortly after. Before Luna and Neville left, Harry asked a big favour, "As you probably noticed, Hermione is … different from when we were in school. Ron and I worry about her but are really quite busy with kids and work. Would you two be able to, I don't know, have her round for dinner or tea? I'm pretty sure she only sees us when I'm in town."

"Of course, Harry," Luna gave her trademark distant smile, "I suspect it may be Wrackspurts but I can't be sure without further investigation. We'll take care of her." Neville warmly smiled in agreement.

Feeling much more at ease, Ron and Harry thanked them for a lovely evening and Apparated to Ron's home.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So this was actually three chapters originally, but it wasn't until I was posting that I realised how infuriatingly short they were. So here you go! A nice long chapter to hold you over until tomorrow! Keep up with the reviews, I'd love to hear what you think!**

**I still don't own Harry Potter, I swear, Officer! Ask my roommate! I'm not making any money off this, either! Here, look at these student loan bills!**

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

" _Let's have a little chat - Girl to girl!"_

_._

_._

_._

" _That sword is meant to be in my vault in Gringotts. How did you get it? What else did you and your friends take from my vault?"_

" _I didn't take anything…. Please… I didn't take anything… "_

Draco ripped himself out of the dream covered in a layer of sweat as Granger's piercing screams still rang in his ears. He slid out of his silk sheets into his dark room and fumbled at his desk drawer, "Fuck… FUCK.  _Lumos_ ," his wand lit and he found what he had been rummaging for. A silver dagger with an intricate handle carved into the shape of a snake. Without regard, he brought the blade down to his now faded dark mark and made three, long, angry cuts. He moved to his shoulder blades and pressed as hard as he could to make four cuts per shoulder. With shaking hands he dropped the familiar blade to the ground, it and his hands covered in his own blood. He laid back in his bed and ground his teeth against the pain of soft silk rubbing against his open wounds.

He deserved this.

He deserved worse.

He reminded himself of that everytime he did this.

" _Nox._ "

* * *

"Morning, Drake! How'd ye sleep last night?"

"What do you want, Theo?" Draco muttered behind his usual cup of tea.

Theodore Nott threw himself down on one of the large, black leather seats in Draco's office, "I take that as not well. Hurry up and down that tea, you need to be on your best behaviour. We're meeting with Ms. Parkinson in fifteen."

"Bollocks, I forgot about that," Draco gulped the rest of his black tea, "Let's go."

"You're bleeding through, Mate. Change the shirt or heal up," Theo gestured lightly to the little specks of blood seeping through Draco's blue Oxford. Theo was Draco's best friend because he didn't ask questions and didn't lecture him about his vices.

With a grunt, he pulled off his shirt, facing Theo to not expose his shoulder blades and pulled on a black Oxford from his desk drawer. He wasn't ready to let them heal yet.

"Salazar's rod, man! Get a tan or something! You're blinding me!" Theo's hand blocked his view of Draco's naked torso.

"If you keep checking me out, I will report you to Human Resources," Draco darkly teased.

"If you keep undressing and trying to seduce me instead of meeting with clients, I will report you to the Board of Directors," Theo jabbed as he gracefully leapt off the chair and opened Draco's office door.

* * *

"Gentlemen, thank you for meeting with me. Have a seat," Pansy Parkinson was already in the boardroom when they arrived.

"Good morning, Ms. Parkinson, how can we help you?" Draco pleasantly greeted their guest.

"As you know, the Department of Law and Regulation has grown substantially since the War and as a result, we're able to train Aurors in more avenues of magic beyond charms and hexes," started Pansy.

"Yes, I actually saw one of your Aurors last night. Potter, just came back from Cairo with a black eye. Might want to up the training on defensive spells," Draco jested.

Pansy's face remained unphased and professionally cool, "I do not interact with Mr. Potter often enough to comment. Regardless, our aim is to train Aurors to be able to brew potions on location and provide medical aid to those in need."

"So they sent our Bestie to get them a good deal on supplies?" smirked Theo.

"The Minister is willing to offer a four million Galleon deal for transportable supplies and a handful of staff members from your Herbology unit to train our senior Aurors," Pansy continued.

Draco resumed a blank stare, "Ten million."

"Six," Pansy countered.

"Nine and we get the rights to be the Ministry's sole potion supplier," Draco returned.

"Mr. Malfoy, I understand a fair price is your goal, but think of what we're aiming to do here. If we can train all our Aurors to provide medical aid to victims or even the Dark Wizards they're hunting, they can obtain more information and can save more lives than we ever did in school," She paused to let the verbal lashing sink in, "Six and a half and Malfoy Industries gets sole rights," Pansy knew she had won.

Draco grimaced inside but smirked on the outside, this woman was good. He stood and stuck his hand out across the table, "You have a deal Ms. Parkinson. Have the lawyers confer and send the papers to my office. Speaking of which, would you care for a cup of tea?"

"Yes, thank you." She rose from her seat to follow the two men out, "Gloria, type up the minutes and owl them to my office, the Minister's and Mr. Malfoy's. I will be back after lunch."

Pansy shut the door behind her as she let herself into Draco's office, "You fucking arsehole! You knew I needed a lower bid on that deal. Sod the tea, give me a coffee, I need something stronger."

Theo gave a hearty laugh, "Pans, you got a great deal! If you wanted something better, the Minister should've known better than to send Drake's best friend to do the negotiations."

Draco handed Pansy her coffee and a tumbler of scotch to Theo before sipping on his own, "I've got to hand it to you Pansy, using my fucked up psyche about Hogwarts against me, was a very devious move. Salazar would be proud."

Pansy smiled back at him and clinked his tumbler with her mug, "I thought you might appreciate that. I'm a good politician for a reason. By the way, thanks for drinking in front of me, tossers."

"Piss off, Pansy, you've said before we could. If it's bothering you we can just gulp it all back now, I wouldn't mind an early afternoon buzz," replied Theo.

"No, it's fine, I just want to win one today and make you two feel bad," Pansy angrily scoffed, "Now, what was that about seeing Potter last night, Drake?"

Draco swallowed the spicy amber liquid, "Yeah, I was out with Neville and Luna when the Golden Trio showed up and barged in on our dinner. Like I said, Potter looks like hell. As if he's been getting the shite beaten out of him for months. Weasley is getting a gut and is carrying on the Weasley tradition by filling the world with more gingers."

"Vane is pregnant again? Next thing you know her hair will turn red and she'll start knitting everyone minging sweaters and caps," Theo chortled.

"What of Granger?" Pansy pressed. As a politician, Pansy knew it didn't hurt to have information on as many people as she could. In fact, some of her and Draco's favourite pastimes included sitting around bitching and gossiping.

"Hm?" Draco took a long sip from his glass, not wanting to dwell long on Granger. She shows up after how many bloody years and the nightmares instantly start back up again. The flashbacks and cutting he could handle, but now he can't even fucking sleep.

"Granger. Is she still a bushy haired swot?" Theo probed.

"I don't know, she didn't really talk much. Not at all, really," Draco answered, filling his tumbler to appear nonchalant, "No more bushy hair though."

"'Didn't talk much?' Granger? Are you kidding me? How is that even possible?" Theo asked, clearly baffled by the idea of a quiet Granger.

"The War fucked people up in different ways," Pansy answered solemnly.

The tumbler Draco was holding suddenly felt like it weighed a tonne. He put it down and out of his sight. They knew better than to drink in front of Pansy, Draco especially, having been there for most of her lowest moments. She'd been sober for three years now, but still. Why make it harder for her? That reminded him, "Do you need a refill on your Draught of Peace, Pansy?"

"Yeah, it couldn't hurt. Thanks, Drake," She gave him a tight smile.

"Well now that the mood is nice and bright, Pansy want to go grab lunch? It's on Malfoy Industries," Theo followed Draco's lead and put aside the tumbler.

"Alright, but only because Drake's paying and I'm not a cheap date," Pansy gathered her robe and headed for the Floo.

There was a knock on Draco's office door, "What is it? I'm about to leave for lunch," Draco called evidently annoyed, briefly lifting the  _Muffliato_ charm that was constantly on his office.

"It's me Draco, I just wanted to make sure we're still on for my place tonight. I'm taking off early for the day."

"Yeah. You can open the door, Neville," Draco sighed.

Neville complied and greeted Pansy and Theo with a polite nod. "Okay, come round at seven. Luna is going over to Hermione's so we'll have the study to ourselves," Neville hobbled in on a simple black cane, nothing like what Draco's father had used during most of his life.

"Right, sounds good," Draco noticed Pansy eyeing the cane and Theo eyeing the man.

"Do ye want to come to lunch with us?" Theo asked.

"Oh, no that's alright, I'm going to visit my parents, thank you though," Neville smiled and limped out the door.

Once the three were seated at, what Draco expected was the most expensive restaurant Pansy could think of, Pansy finally asked the question weighing on her mind, "What's with Longbottom's cane? I didn't know he was that badly injured in the War."

"He wasn't. I don't know why he has to use it, it's only sometimes. One day, he'll come in walking fine then the next, he'll be stumbling around with that cane," Draco shrugged. He wasn't concerned about Neville. It hadn't affected his work and Neville hadn't brought it up the numerous times they'd been alone together researching. He also had Lovegood and she could handle that stuff better than Draco could, anyway.

Theo was deep in thought. Draco saw the way the man looked at Neville, he wasn't an idiot. Draco also knew that the face Theo was currently wearing indicated he would disappear for a few days. He normally did when something troubled him deeply. Maybe Draco could salvage a couple days more with his COO at work, "But if you don't mind, Theo, could you keep an eye on him? Sounds like Lovegood is busy with Granger, so just make sure he's performing well at work, yeah? I can't have another unit head disappear from work."

Theo picked up his menu and blindly read it, "Yeah, no problem."

* * *

Hermione sighed as she straightened the throw pillows on her navy blue sectional sofa for the third time. She knew Luna had owled her about having dinner plans to be polite but Hermione didn't feel like entertaining tonight. She tried to brush her off but she had a feeling the blonde woman would show up regardless.

Right on cue, Luna stepped out of Hermione's Floo, "Hello Hermione, I brought you some macaroni casserole. It's what Muggles call vegan. It's quite good, I've been researching Muggle cuisine as of late."

"Hi Luna, I know what vegan is. My old Muggle neighbour is a vegan," she explained, taking the still warm casserole, "Thank you for dinner. Come to the dining room, I'll serve us."

They made their way through the living room to the small dining room. Hermione went to the kitchen to plate the delicious smelling food. Luna called from the dining room, "How are your parents, Hermione? I didn't see many pictures of them in the living room."

Hermione ground her back teeth and gripped the serving spoon in her hand tight. She called back in as casual a tone as she could manage, "They're still in Australia. The British and Australian Ministries conferred and found my  _Obliviate_ spell to be too effective. Trying to undo it could cause brain damage or send them into psychosis." Hermione brought the plates into the dining room and set them down with a little too much force.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must be very difficult for you with Harry being gone so often and Ron being busy with his family," although Luna's tone never changed, after knowing Luna for so many years, Hermione knew she was genuinely concerned.

Hermione sat across from the other woman and shovelled a forkful of casserole into her mouth and shrugged, "I suppose. I don't really have time to think about it. I'm quite busy."

Luna stared at Hermione while she continued to eat. Hermione shifted uncomfortably, but continued to focus on her food.  _Why can't she just eat in silence?_

"Draco Malfoy is quite handsome now, don't you think?"

Hermione inhaled in surprised and choked on her macaroni. She coughed and sputtered as Luna handed her the wine she had opened. Taking a swig from the bottle, she composed herself and her breathing, "Malfoy? I don't know, I didn't notice. I was happy to see you and Neville more."

Luna pulled the bottle back and took a sip for herself, "No you weren't, but that's okay. You wanted to spend the evening with Ron and Harry. Draco is very well read and doesn't snivel as much as he did in school." Luna finally took her first bite of her casserole.

Hermione took a smaller bite, fearing for her life that Luna may tell her Romilda's next child would be a Hippogriff. "Why are you telling me this, Luna?"

"They're traits I've noticed in him since he and Neville have become friends. I imagine you've been wondering why we were out to dinner with him."

"Yes, I was. Are they really friends? They couldn't be further opposites in school," Hermione probed.

"They get on quite famously, actually. Neville left his post as Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts after a year and Draco offered him a job the next day to run the Herbology sector for his Potions Unit. I suppose he had been wanting to hire Neville since he took over Malfoy Industries but Headmistress McGonagall beat him," Luna explained.

"Why did Neville leave Hogwarts? I thought that would've been his dream job," Hermione wondered out loud.

Luna didn't respond for quite some time. She dreamily stared off into the kitchen as she had a couple forkfuls of casserole.

During the silence, Hermione took the time to consider the grown up Malfoy she had met. His face had filled out from being pointy, to angular and defined, his complexion and hair were still alarmingly pale although, he changed from his slicked back hairstyle in favour of a shorter, perfectly tousled look. She snorted to herself, that seemed on point for Malfoy, even his seemingly messy hair was perfected. Malfoy also seemed to have grown a bit since she last saw him at his trials and his build wasn't as lanky anymore. Now that she thought about it, Malfoy had always been handsome in a repulsive, arrogant git sort of way, but now he was a fully grown man.

Luna suddenly broke the silence and Hermione jumped slightly, "War is a curious thing, don't you think? It can physically and mentally manifest itself in people for so long. No matter how we distract ourselves, it's always there."

Hermione chased thoughts of Malfoy away and mulled Luna's words over in her head.  _Of course Neville left because of the War. How could anyone stand to be there acting as if everything was normal? Especially after what Neville endured during his seventh year. The War won't stop taking from even the sweetest of people until we're shrivelled husks…_ Hermione swallowed the thought with some wine before she fell into a hole that she had masterfully filled over the years.

"I like that painting. What is it?" Luna asked.

"It's a copy of  _Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse_  by a Muggle artist, Joshua Reynolds. She played the heroine of a very famous Muggle play called  _Macbeth_. He painted her in the image of Melpoméne. The Greek Muse of Tragedy."

* * *

Neville and Luna's Floo opened straight into their study. Draco arrived promptly at seven to see Neville already sitting in one of two large, overstuffed chairs with a pile of books next to him.

"Hi Draco!" Neville looked up from his book excitedly, "I found an entry about a plant that can be used to heighten one's  _Legilimency_. Perhaps we could formulate a potion that could be given to non-responsive victims to help them communicate with their Healers." Neville was frantically scribbling notes as his idea flowed.

Draco gave Neville a tight smile, "I'll look for something that would compliment those properties." He grabbed two books from Neville's stack, removed his suit jacket and sat in the vacant chair. He peeked up at Neville and hesitantly asked, "How was seeing your parents?"

Neville's eyes darkened as he continued to stare at the parchment beneath his now still quill. "It was fine. I went for a run afterwards to help me think of these new research avenues."

Draco scoffed, "A run? How the fuck did you go for a run when you could barely make it into my office this afternoon?"

"Why all the questions, Drake? You're not usually one to be so nosey. Are you going to sodding read or not?" Neville snapped. Neville never snapped. Well, maybe he didn't. Draco couldn't be sure because he had never enquired about anything in Neville's life before. His discussion with Pansy and Theo got him curious about the cane as well.

"Sorry, Mate. I didn't mean to pry." Draco took a beat before changing the subject. "What's that plant called?"

" _Ayahuasca._ Also known as  _iowaska_  or  _yagé_. It's fine… Sorry, I shouldn't have yelled. Sorry." Neville blushed as he pulled his book back into his lap.

" _Ayahuasca_ … Why does that sound familiar?"

Neville snorted, "Because Muggles use it to get high."

* * *

Two hours passed in comfortable silence before the Floo roared to life and Luna stepped out with an empty casserole dish.

Neville's eyes lit up, "Hello, Love. How did Hermione like the casserole?"

Luna leaned down and kissed Neville on the forehead, "She enjoyed it very much. She asked for the recipe. Could you perhaps grow us a cashew tree? It would make it much easier to make all these vegan dishes. Hi Draco."

Draco curled his upper lip, "What's vegan?"

Luna sat on the arm of Neville's chair and dreamily stared at Draco, "It's a plant based type of cuisine. No animals or animal byproducts are used in the dish. It's quite a clever Muggle invention."

Draco looked back at his book and huffed in response.

"It's really delicious, Draco. Maybe we'll have you round for dinner and make you something. I'll look into the tree, Luna. I think it's meant for a tropical environment, but I'll see what I can do."

Still staring at the blonde man, Luna squeezed Neville's hand in response. For the second time that evening she startled one of her old classmates, "You should owl Hermione, Draco. You'd have plenty to talk about."

Draco slowly looked back up at Luna and sneered. "What could I possibly have to say? 'Hey Granger, sorry my crazy Aunt tortured you within an inch of your life in my family home. Care for a spot of tea? Lovegood says we'd be a good match.'"

"It would be a good icebreaker," Luna smiled and sashayed out of the room.

Draco watched her as if Looney Lovegood was finally off her rocker. "Honestly man, how have you been with that for  _years_?"

"Oi, watch it." Neville warned. "Find any leads?"

* * *

" _Goyle's set the bloody place on fire!"_

_._

_._

_._

Draco's own scream woke him this time. He could feel the heat of the FiendFyre, he could still see the look on his childhood mate's face. He remembered Greg Goyle's screams as he fell to his, undoubtedly painful, death into the monster he had conjured. Draco's cuts were still bloody and angry, he scratched at them to open them back up. He rested his head in his hands and sobbed for his lost friend. He cried until he couldn't produce any more tears.

Draco picked himself up out of bed, knowing it was well into the late night and walked to the modern kitchen in his flat. He hadn't gone back to Malfoy Manor after his trials. He shuddered at the memories and pushed them away as he focused on downing ice cold water. He drank deeply to chase away the heat of the FiendFyre. He refilled his cup and drank until his throat ached and his belly bulged slightly from the cold.

Narcissa Malfoy still lived at the Manor, unable to leave what was once where she had a supposed happy family. Whenever Draco saw her it was at a restaurant in town or at his flat. He hadn't even returned for Lucius' funeral. The bastard didn't deserve a burial plot, his body should have rotted in Azkaban where he died.

Fuming at his dream, the betrayal of his father, the stubbornness of his mother, Draco punched the sleek tile backsplash. The slate grey tiles cracked under his fist. He wound up and punched again, continuing until he was through the plaster and his knuckles were mangled past recognition.

He slid his bare back down the cold black cabinet, ran his good hand through his hair and eventually fell asleep sitting on his kitchen floor. He woke to an owl tapping at the kitchen window a few short hours later.

Draco didn't recognise the tawny barn owl. Around its leg was a tiny parchment that simply read,

 _Coffee?_ Wotcher _. Diagon Alley._

_H._

He let out a dark laugh,  _Lovegood dropped the hint to both of us_. Draco replied in the affirmative and went upstairs to shower and heal his wounds.

After the shower, Draco looked at himself in the mirror. He looked like shite. Dark bags under pink swollen eyes, gaunt cheeks. Really, he looked like Lupin after one of his monthly transformations. He ran some product through his ice blonde hair, shaved his stubble and cast a glamour charm on his face.  _Hopefully that'll last or Granger's going to get a nasty surprise._

Dressed in a dark grey two piece suit with the top button of his white Oxford undone, Draco stepped outside his front door and Apparated to Diagon Alley to find whatever  _Wotcher_  was.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Things are starting to kick  off! Tell me what you think!**

**I still don't own Harry Potter and I'm not making money off of this.**

 

* * *

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

Hermione prepared two cappuccinos behind the counter as she waited for Malfoy to arrive. _Why the bloody hell did I owl him? Who the fuck let me near a sodding owl after a bottle of wine on a stomach full of vegan food? This is going to be a bloody waste of time. We’re going to to get into a row and it’s going to ruin my work day._

With that thought, Malfoy sauntered through the front door and spotted her behind the counter immediately. He pointed to a table with two chairs in front of the storefront window. She nodded and brought the coffees over.

“Hey,” Hermione lamely said and she sat down across from him.

A smile--a real, genuine smile, not a smirk--inched its way up _Draco Malfoy_ ’s face.

“Hey to you too. To what do I owe the pleasure of this morning rendez-vous?” Malfoy asked taking a sip of his cappuccino. “Mmm, this is good. Hats off to the barista. I have to admit Granger, I didn’t have you pegged at working at a coffee shop.”

Hermione shook off her shock of seeing a _smile_ on _Draco Malfoy_ ’s face. She straightened her shoulders, “I’m not a barista. I’m the owner. I work at the Ministry and bought this place and my flat above here with my savings.”

“That sounds more like what I had in mind. What do you do at the Ministry?” He enquired.

“Why do you want to know?” Hermione asked, immediately suspicious.

“It’s called conversation, Granger. You’re the one who invited me here,” Malfoy sighed, seemingly bored by her aggression.

“Yeah, I don’t know why I did that. Luna got me tossed on wine and left me to my own devices,” Hermione explained unabashedly.

Draco shrugged off his coat, rolled his sleeves to his elbows and crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat cockily, “So, naturally, your first inclination was to owl me for a date.”

Hermione felt a jolt of electricity shoot down her legs at the sight of his shirt straining against his biceps. She was yanked from her dangerous thoughts at his accusation, “Hold on, no. This isn’t a date at all. No, I’m not - No. No.”

Malfoy raised his hands in surrender, “I get it, you’re with Potter. Are you the one giving him those black eyes? If so, I have to admit, I’m jealous.”

“No, I’m not with Harry. I’m not dating anyone, I’m - “

Draco cut her off “- too busy at work?” he tsked, “Ah Granger, if you’re not careful you’ll die a virgin spinster.” He cocked an eyebrow at her as a challenge to take his bait.

She gulped back her too hot cappuccino, feeling her temper rear its ugly head. “Not that it’s any of _your_ fucking business, Malfoy, but I’m certainly not a virgin. Just because I’m not dating doesn’t mean I’m not getting shagged.” Hoping her vulgarity would send him packing out of revulsion for her dirty blood, instead he leaned forward and rested his elbows on the small circular table.

“Now, _that’s_ interesting.” His storm grey eyes trailed down her neck to the top of her white blouse that hid any hints of cleavage. “So, do you make a habit out of casual sexual partners?”

Hermione felt her cheeks and chest flush from excitement. It didn’t matter this was the cowardly prick who let her get tortured, it didn’t matter this was the shitty kid with a pointy face who was the first to call her “Mudblood.” She couldn’t deny that this _man_ sitting in front of her, checking her out, was hot as hell. It was hard to ignore gossip and word had it, he was experienced. “Yes, I find them easier and more fun than relationships. I tried that route and it wasn’t for me.”

He let out a long breath through his nose as he sat back in his chair again, seemingly contemplating something. His eyes didn’t leave hers. He had an unreadable expression on his face, which was infuriating Hermione. Suddenly, he stood from the table, rolled his sleeves down and donned his coat. “I have to go to work. I’ll owl you. Thanks for the cappuccino.”

He spun on his heel and left the shop.

Hermione sat shocked at the odd and intense interaction. She stood and checked the clock. She still had an hour before she had to be at work. She left the empty cups on the counter for Becca, the barista on shift this morning, to handle and rushed up to her flat. Still feeling flushed and now randy as hell, she all but ran to her bedroom, and locked the door to close out the reality of what she was about to do.

Hermione slid her back down her bedroom door, crawled to her bedside table and pulled out a Muggle vibrating dildo. She yanked down her knickers beneath her skirt and plunged the buzzing device into her. She cried out as she thought about Malfoy’s lean, muscular arms braced around her. Moving her arm faster, she thought about Malfoy’s hot mouth on her, on her neck, her nipples, her clit. She moved her other hand to start rubbing circles on the aforementioned spot. She thought about Malfoy slamming her up against her bedroom wall and biting down on her lip as he groaned at the feeling of her. Hermione threw her head back against the wall as she was nearing her release. She thought about her legs wrapped around his angular waist as he plowed into her. That sent her over the edge. Her chest heaved as she gasped for air.

Hermione just masturbated to the thought of Draco Malfoy shagging her against a wall. She groaned in confused frustration and let her head hit the wall again. At least today wouldn’t be as bad as she had initially thought.

* * *

 

 

Later, in her office, while Hermione was approving petitions for better living quarters for Elves in the Jordan household, her mind drifted back to her morning with Malfoy.

She hadn’t been angry he left so suddenly, if anything she felt relieved. It was an intense interaction that dripped with the possibility of… She couldn’t put her finger on it but part of her hoped what she had imagined after she returned to her flat would be on the docket.

Furrowing her brow, she pushed away the papers and stopped pretending to read them. This wasn’t some nameless man from Greece, this was Draco Malfoy. The tosser who made her life so much more difficult in school. He may not have told Bellatrix who Harry was in Malfoy Manor all those years ago but she suspected that was out of cowardice. He had been the first to call her “Mudblood”. There was no doubting he was extremely sexy as a grown man, but he was literally repulsed by her in school, which meant he was probably scheming something. Using his obvious sex appeal to continue to torture her.

The thought filled her with fury at him and at herself for entertaining the idea of shagging that prat. She couldn’t take anything he did or said at face value. So if his promised owl did show up, she would tell him to bugger off and hopefully she would stop wondering what he looked like under his thin Oxford.

“Oh for goodness sakes!” Hermione scolded herself out loud. She stood to do rounds and check on her officers, hoping that would occupy her mind for the rest of the day.

* * *

  


Draco locked himself away in his office to solely focus on work. _Not Granger_ . He felt the glamour charm leave his face and rubbed his sore eyes while he tried to focus on the words in front of him. _Merlin, she looked good._ He remembered the hollow of her collarbone, the flush of her chest as he stared at her… Draco felt his trousers start to tighten at the thought.

He loudly huffed out a sigh and threw the papers down. _I’ll owl you_ , he bitterly mocked himself. _As if she’d want to slag around with me. Even if she did, that certainly wouldn’t make the nightmares go away._ Draco winced as he remembered her blood curdling screams. _It won’t erase what you let happen to her. Nothing will undo what happened because you were too much of a self preserving coward._

Draco slammed his fist down onto his desk and grabbed the volume that he had taken from Neville’s house. He cast another glamour charm on his face and headed down to the Herbology unit.

“Hey Draco,” Neville’s smile faltered as he recognized the glower on his boss’ face. “Are you alright?”

“Fine.” Draco muttered as he brushed past Neville and entered one of the greenhouses. He breathed in the heat and extreme humidity and shrugged off his coat before sitting on a metal folding chair.

Neville hesitantly entered the greenhouse, “They’re back again, aren’t they?”

Draco raised his eyes from the volume slowly and glared at Neville dangerously, “Pardon me?”

Neville gestured at two employees working at the far end of the greenhouse to leave. Once they did, Neville pressed on, “Whatever it is that makes you come down into this unbearably hot and humid room. I assume it’s the dreams. Luna gets them. Some nights I have to hold her down because she thrashes around so much.”

Draco resumed staring a the book with an impassive face, “Kinky, Longbottom. Thanks for sharing.”

Neville quietly sighed at his friend, “All I’m saying is, if you need anything, just let me know.”

“What like a run?” Draco snapped back and looked pointedly at the cane.

Neville only shrugged, “If it helps,” he turned to leave, “I’ll close down this house for the day so you can brood in peace. Cast a cushioning charm on that chair though, or you’ll be walking like me tonight.”

Draco felt guilty for brushing off his friend’s help, but that sort of shite made him feel uncomfortable. _Just let me wallow alone without questioning._ Sometimes he wished Neville could be more like Theo instead of the goddamn Gryffindor he grew up as.

Having finished the volume at three in the afternoon with no luck of finding complimentary ingredients to _Ayahuasca,_ Draco decided to go home early to clean up the mess he made in his kitchen.

It didn’t feel right having a House Elf after the War. Something about having another hierarchy in his home made him squirm uncomfortably. He learned to cook and clean on his own after he bought this flat. On the rare occasion he was hosting guests (other than the bints he brought over to shag), he would hire a freelance Elf to tidy and pay them fairly. The last thing he wanted was a scandal because the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was banging on his flat door. Now that was a job he saw Granger doing, charging into homes to defend the poor Elves.

He internally chuckled as he walked into his dark, sleek kitchen, imagining the Granger from Hogwarts. Bushy haired, knickers in a knot wanting to save those who didn’t want to be saved. With a quick _Reparo_ and _Scourgify_ the tiles looked good as new.

Deftly making himself an early dinner, he continued to wage war with himself on whether or not to owl Granger. Thank Merlin he had Quidditch practice tonight, that would hopefully keep him from driving himself mad.

He ate in arrant silence except for the ticking of the grandfather clock in his living room. The familiar blindness came over his seeing eyes as he was brought back to his parent’s grand dining room.

.

.

.

_“For those of you who do not know, we are joined tonight by Miss Charity Burbage who until recently taught at Hogwarts. Her speciality was Muggle Studies. It is Miss Burbage’s belief that Muggles aren’t so different from us. She would, given her way, have us mate with them. To her, the mixture of Magical and Muggle blood is not an abomination. But, something to be encouraged.”_

_“S-S-Severus. Severus, please. We’re friends.”_

_“Avada Kedavra!”_

_._

_._

_._

_“Nagini… Dinner.”_

Draco pulled out of the memory with a start. His chest was heaving and he squeezed his eyes shut trying to not remember how his Professor’s bones sounded as they crunched in that fucking snake’s jaws. Or the deafening thump of her lifeless body hitting his family dining table.

He slammed his fist down onto the table with a shout and shot his chair out from underneath him. Draco ran upstairs to down a Draught of Peace, _Accio_ ’d his Quidditch gear and Apparated to the pitch.

At nine o’clock, Draco Apparated into his foyer where he dropped his gear and headed for the bathroom once again. He drank a potion for Dreamless Sleep before peeling off his sweaty uniform and stepping into the shower. Scrubbing his skin until it turned pink from the heat and friction, he rinsed off and barely made it to his bed before collapsing.


	5. Chapter 5

** A/N: Okay, maybe I'm too excited to get to my favourite chapter (not this one, but soon!) I've combined a couple of chapters here because I'm celebrating Mother's Day tomorrow with my best friend who just gave birth last month! So in case I don't have time to upload, here's a big, fat, juicy chapter with substance (finally getting past some of that filler shit!) Thank you all so much for the follows and views! I can't tell you how excited you make me to wake up every morning to share this with you! I've been sitting on this story for nearly two months so it's weird to think so many other people are reading my nasty angsty word vomit.  **

** Leave a review and let me know what you'd like to see more/less of next time 'round. **

** Disclaimer:  ** Still not J.K Rowling. Still poor as shit thanks to not monetizing this nonsense.

* * *

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

Three weeks. It had been three weeks since she last saw Malfoy.  _ I’ll owl you _ , she thought, mocking his now deep voice. Hermione wasn’t upset at the broken promise, rather sexually frustrated. Based on Harry’s letters, he wouldn’t be back for a couple of months and the thought of going out, pretending to be interested in some stranger’s life, shagging them a few times before it became good and making sure they stayed an arms length away was exhausting.  _ Perhaps I’ll sign up for another Muay Thai class in London. That would bring me up to three times a week. _ Hermione felt satisfied by the plan. Wait for Harry (chew out Malfoy if he owls her), sign up for more classes and figure out what the bloody hell Anderson was going on about in this report.

Hermione left her office to find the Inspector and give him a tongue lashing. How many sodding times did she have to tell him that if he wasn’t thorough in his report, there may not be grounds to stand on to release the Elves, then the whole operation is pointless! She asked him that very question as she slammed the report on his desk.

“I-I’m sorry, Miss Granger. It won’t happen again,” the middle aged man snivelled.

“You have one more chance. These are creatures’ lives we’re dealing with here and there’s no more room for your gross asininity. Get it right or get out.” She bit out the last few words to emphasize her point. Leaving the report on his desk to fix, she looked around at her fifteen other employees being sure they all got the message. She walked back to her office with her shoulders back. She didn’t normally drop the hammer like that, but she would be damned if her life’s work went belly up because of negligent employees. 

She closed her office door and turned to see a long figure lazily sprawled across her chair and desk, “That was quite the tirade you went on. I wouldn’t want to work under you,” Malfoy’s eyes lit up, “well perhaps in another fashion. But not here.”

“What are you doing here, Malfoy? Hang on, how did you find me? I didn’t tell you what I do.”

“It’s really not that difficult to find you. I remember you prating on about SPEW in school, I don’t know who could forget such a ludacris name,” Malfoy scoffed.

“It’s S-P-E-W.,” Hermione automatically corrected. “Why are you here? I’m rather-”

“-busy, yes.” Malfoy finished for her as he crossed the room to her in a few strides, “I want you to take me to the Ministry's Yule Celebration and I’ll take you to Malfoy Industry’s. I would have waited for you to ask me, as you obviously were going to, but it seemed to me that your courage also went out the window with your morals. What with you laughing at the plight of veterans.” Malfoy stood less than half a metre away from her, his eyebrow once again cocked at the challenge.

Hermione knew full well she could have owled him to tell him off but her pride wouldn’t allow it. Not after the drunk owling. “Why would I go anywhere with you? Last I checked you were repulsed by my blood status,” she sneered at him.

Malfoy rolled his eyes impatiently, “Oh,  _ really _ , Granger. Don’t you think a literal War and the risk of being thrown into Azkaban would have changed anyone’s views on status?”

“Oh right, so you’re not a racist prick since your luxurious lifestyle was threatened?” She was growing more angry at his nonchalance towards the subject. 

“Yes. That and racism is so outdated now. It’s far more fashionable and fun to fetishise all sorts of people, don’t you think?” he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at her at her. 

She scoffed loudly and ignored the fire kindling just below her belly, “You’re insufferable! Get out. I don’t want to date you and my morals are fine, thank you.” 

“I don’t want to date you either.” 

They stared at each other as the statement hung in the air. There was a fire now blazing in Hermione's knickers at the declaration. She understood what he meant. He wanted what she wanted.  _ Allegedly,  _ she reminded herself, though the scolding thought did nothing to smother her burning desire. She searched his eyes, looking for anything but they were blank. The silence was heavy, waiting for one of the parties to break it.

There was a timid rap on the office door, “Ms Granger? Do you have a moment? I have a question regarding a report.”

The spell broke and Hermione slid past Malfoy to sit at her desk and waved the door open with her wand, “Yes, Anna, come in.” Hermione turned her attention to Malfoy as her employee walked into the room, “That will be all, Mr Malfoy. Please see yourself out.”

He grinned widely as he strode past Anna out the door, “Thank you, Ms Granger. I’ll see you soon.”

“No, you will not,” she foolishly called after him. She felt as if steam could come out of her ears.  _ That arrogant git!  _ Even though she was beyond furious at his invasion of her space and the incessant flirtation, a flutter of excitement spread across her chest as she looked over Anna’s report. He didn’t seem like he would be leaving her alone anytime soon, and really,  _ who doesn’t like to be pursued by a fatally attractive person? _ She ignored the small voice in her head that acknowledged she hadn’t felt excitement in… a while. 

It was late into the evening. Neville could hear that most of Malfoy Industries was empty aside from the cleaning staff on the upper floors. He worked best on his own and tonight was a good night to stay late. Over the past few weeks, Luna had made a habit of going to Hermione’s flat every couple of days. It was good to see Luna engaging with their old friend,  _ They both could use it _ , he thought to himself. Luna’s night terrors had reduced quite a bit since spending time with Hermione.

The thought brought him peace. Neville had been with Luna since he took up post as Professor of Herbology after the War. She stood by him as he changed career paths abruptly to work for who was a villain for most of their childhoods. Luna was wise, beautiful and steadfast and yet she chose him - bumbling, forgetful, clumsy Neville. He knew he had filled out and grown up since his early twenties but he still felt like an oafish clod standing next to her.

“What are ye still doing here?”

The voice made Neville’s quill scratch across the parchment he was making notes about the Belladonna extraction he was performing. The all too familiar surge of surprised panic and adrenaline fueled Neville’s response. He whipped around and saw Theo, “Oh, Theo,” Neville gasped and threw his hand over his heart, “you startled me! I’m working late. Luna’s at Hermione’s. What’re you doing here?” His heart rate slowed at the lack of danger. But not by much.

Theo swallowed hard and cleared his throat, “I, em… I was just finishing up some work and thought I’d check up on your progress with the Ministry’s supplies.” Theo’s eyes trailed around Neville’s immediate area, “No cane?”

“No, I’m okay without it now,” Neville blushed.

“Why do you need it? You’ve been working here for years and I never noticed it before,” Theo enquired.

“It’s a running injury that’s gotten worse over time. I used to only limp, but recently I’ve needed help and a cane seemed like the least conspicuous option.”

“Do you still run?” Theo questioned knowing the answer.

Neville coughed and went back to scratching notes on the parchment, “Sometimes. Only when I ne - when I want to clear my head.

“Hmm.” Theo crossed his arms and leaned against the desk Neville was standing at. “Right, well I’ll tell ye what. Next time ye want to, er, ‘clear your head’ owl me and I’ll come with.” Theo smacked his own belly, “I’m getting a little paunchy from all this office work. I know with my height and seemingly perfect physique ye may be wondering, ‘How is this possible, Theo?’ But it seems something is catching up with me.”

Neville’s throat constricted at Theo’s joke… For some reason… But happy to have the focus taken off him, he only smirked in response. Theo reached out and grasped his shoulder. “Just owl me, yeh?”

Neville felt a cold sweat break out over his face and scalp. He swallowed hard and met Theo’s eyes. “Okay,” Neville replied in a small voice.

Theo grinned wide and clapped Neville’s shoulder, “Brilliant! Now, get home before ye run Drake’s vault clean from overtime. Not that I mind ye robbing that pasty git blind, but I need my paycheque too.”

Neville chortled and started cleaning up his workspace but a small thrill lingered in the back of his mind. One he dare not consider.

****  
  


****  
  


After her brief office encounter with Malfoy, the rest of November passed in Hermione’s familiar routine. 

Work. Dinner. Muay Thai three times a week. Read. Bed. Repeat.

The only thing that was gunking up the works was Luna’s incessant visits. Hermione suspected Harry or Ron had asked her to keep her company.  _ The dodgy wankers… _  Luna’s visits weren’t all bad, she never asked Hermione to come over to hers and whenever she did come, she brought some sort of Muggle style food. Recently, she’d been bringing fish soups because, as Luna had explained, her Swedish coworker had accidentally charmed his cauldron to make endless fish soup and has been giving it away to anyone who would take it. Hermione expected her most Wednesday nights and tonight was no different. She made herself comfortable with some notes from work on her sofa.

Instead of Luna’s pungent smell soup coming from the Floo there was an owl tapping at Hermione’s living room window. It carried a note from the blond woman:

_ I’ve misplaced all my bowls to bring over dinner. _

_ Please come round to ours for dinner tonight. _

_ I’ll make it up to you by staying away next week. _

Hermione rolled her eyes and sighed loudly. Another wrench in the routine. At least she could have next week to herself. The thought pulled her out of her intense sour mood. She resolved to take a quick pull from the bottle of cheap gin she had above her refrigerator.  _ Might as well make the evening a little more tolerable _ , she thought as she shuddered from the piney aftertaste.

Hermione placed the bottle back above the refrigerator and still wearing her business trousers and blue blouse from work, she stepped into the Floo.

The Floo in front of Draco unexpectedly roared to life. Neville hadn’t mentioned expecting anyone over, but perhaps it was for Luna since she was at the cottage tonight. A wild grin broke out over his face when he saw who stepped out from the hearth. “Well, well Granger. I thought you weren’t going to be seeing me.”

“Oh, what in the fuck?” Granger angrily pinched the bridge of her nose at the sight of him. She called past him, “Luna!”

Within moments Luna appeared at the study door, “Hello Hermione. Thank you for coming over tonight. I know you prefer having dinner at your flat, but I believe there are Nargles stealing my things again. We just brought in some mistletoe for the holidays but I suspect I didn’t clean them well enough.”

“Why is he here, Luna? I thought it would just be us for dinner!” Granger pointed back at him.

“Well as you know, Isak is still dealing with the overabundance of fish soup and since Neville had invited Draco over to work tonight, I thought it would be nice for us all to dine together. I’m going to set the table,” and with that she skipped back down the hall.

“That fish soup was good at first but has become rather foul,” Draco grunted from behind her.

Despite her anger, she laughed and agreed, “It was a nice change from the vegan food, but I have to agree. Too much of a good thing and all.”

“I don’t think there’s such a thing. Take me for instance, you obviously couldn’t stay away and find yourself having dinner with me, yet again.” He moved to stand close behind her. His chest just barely brushing her hair.

She turned and violently pushed him back, “Piss off, Malfoy. I’m here for Luna, you’re an unfortunate side effect.”

He stumbled back two steps, surprised at her strength. Granger really  _ was _ fit. He wanted to grab her hands as they pressed against his chest but thought better of it. He didn’t want to be the bloke who made the mistake of trying to fight such a tiny powerhouse. “Alright, I’ll be completely pleasant tonight. In fact, I’ll make you a deal. If I sneer or make a pissy comment tonight I’ll leave you alone and but if I make you laugh, then you’ll agree to come to Malfoy Industries’ celebration and you’ll take me to the Ministry’s.”

Draco knew she couldn’t back down from a challenge, somethings are just too ingrained in people to grow out of. 

“Fine. But you have your work cut out for you, Malfoy. I  _ really _ want you to bugger off,” she smirked and left the study for the dining room.

_ I can swallow my pride for one night if it means I can get into Granger’s steel knickers _ , Draco reassured himself. Leaving his suit coat on the chair he was studying in, he left to join the others in the quaint dining room.

If Luna had been lying about not having any bowls, she was sticking to it. There were four places set at the table. Instead of bowls there was a muggle pot, a rusty cauldron, a large wine goblet and an old pickle jar all filled with the famous fish soup.

“Er, Luna, why don’t you just transfigure some bowls?” Granger asked eying the odd table.

“Yeah, I have to agree with Granger. If you are worried about sodding it up, why don’t you just ask the brightest witch of our age?” Draco teased from his seat at the table.

Granger glared back in response. She chose the seat diagonal from him.

“Luna says it’s bad luck to transfigure what you eat on, or something like that. Right?” Neville asked Luna from his seat next to Granger.

Luna just smiled, not correcting him if his memory was incorrect.

The four of them ate in silence while Draco wracked his brain trying to think of things to ask Granger. He hadn’t seen her in nearly five years and even before that, he hardly knew her. His train of thought was interrupted by Neville.

“How’s work going, Hermione? Luna said you’ve opened an Elvish welfare branch at the Ministry.”

“It’s fine, the mountain of residences to inspect never seems to end. Some people still believe there’s nothing wrong with having slaves,” Granger stared pointedly at Draco. 

Before Draco could defend himself, Neville jumped in, “Actually, as far as I know, Draco’s never had a house Elf at his flat other than hiring Freelancers. You also got your mother to start paying her Elves, didn’t you?”

Draco smuggly sipped the soup from his spoon and maintained eye contact with Granger, “Mhmm.”

“Why?” Granger’s suspicion was written all over her face.

“Like I said before, I quite like my fancy things. And it doesn’t hurt to make nice with a race of beings whose magic clearly supersedes wizard magic.” 

She scoffed, “Don’t want to be on the wrong side of history again?”

“Shockingly no. I’ve had my fill of arse kickings for a lifetime. No matter how many  _ Episkey _ charms I endured, my nose still isn’t straight thanks to you,” Draco pantomimed adjusting the bridge of his nose which rosed small laughs from Neville and Luna.

Granger smirked and looked down at her pickle jar, biting her bottom lip.

Draco cursed internally.  _ I’m not funny, that’s Theo’s sodding gig.  _ If it wasn’t at his expense, he wasn’t sure how he’d win his clearly half-baked bet. 

Once they all finished their soup, Neville and Luna cleared the table and went to bring in some tea and brandy.

“You’re running out of time, Malfoy. Better step up your game, or else you’ll be attending your own Christmas party alone,” Granger teased once they were alone.

“Have you met a person who is less likely to have issues getting a date?” He leaned his elbows on the table top.

“That’s odd because I didn’t realise albinism was a very popular fetish.”

“That’s because you don’t know where to look, Granger. I’m most popular with hags who want to harvest my blood for their cooking and man-snake hybrid lunatics,” Draco jabbed at himself, for the second time that night.

That did it. A scoffed giggle slipped past her teeth and his smile couldn’t be wider.

She immediately jumped to defend the sound, “That wasn’t a laugh, that was a scoff!”

Still smiling, he tsked her, “Lying isn’t very becoming on a lion. I’ll see you on December 17th.”

“Are you coming to the Yule celebration, Hermione?” Luna asked as she directed eight hovering cups to the table.

Draco answered before Granger could, “Why yes she is, she just agreed to attend with me.”

Luna smiled at Granger and Neville gaped at her.

Granger sighed angrily, “Yeah, I suppose so.” She turned her attention back to Draco and glared, “That was a shite joke.”

Draco scoffed as he took a brandy from Luna, “I’m handsome, intelligent and an arse, Granger. Funny isn’t in my wheelhouse which means you have a shite sense of humour.” He grinned widely into his tumbler at her fuming face.

Granger grabbed both of her cups and downed the amber liquids before turning on Luna and Neville, “You two will be there as well, right?”

“Of course,” Luna warmly assured her.

Draco followed suit and finished the brandy, “Ah, don’t be such a poor loser. What is it the Muggles say? ‘All Is Fair in Love and War’? He winked at the still furious looking Granger and stood from his seat.  “Well should we get back at it?” He asked Neville as he walked away from the table.

Neville nodded and followed him out. After the study door was shut Neville finally spoke, “How the bloody hell did you manage that!?”

Draco placed a hand over his heart in mock offense as he took his usual seat, “Do you have so little faith in my techniques?”

“With Hermione? Absolutely!”

Draco chuckled, “I bet her if I could make her laugh she’d come with me and I’d go with her to the Ministry’s event. I made fun of myself some more and that seemed to do the trick.”

Neville dropped into his chair, “Huh. Why Hermione?”

“Why not? She’s right fit now, isn’t she? The biggest challenge was getting her agree to come out with me, I can handle the rest.” Draco sat in his chair.

“Right. Well, careful, yeah? She’s my mate too and I don’t want to see her get hurt,” Neville warned.

Draco waved away the threat, “She’s an adult, Neville, the brightest witch of our age. I won’t throw anything at her I don’t think she can handle.”

****  
  


****  
  


Weeks later, Hermione sat in her office, still feeling like a sore loser. How such a pisspoor joke got her to laugh was beyond her. At least Luna and Neville would be there. And she and Malfoy had been very clear that neither of them were interested in dating. The reminder sent heat down between her legs. She had considered countless times ducking out of the deal she had made with Malfoy. But her Gryffindor pride kept her to uphold her word, which regardless of everything that happened during her life, was still an iron clad bond, as it was with most Gryffindors. 

She hadn’t heard from Malfoy since their dinner at Luna and Neville’s but that did nothing to lessen her inner brawl. She still certainly didn’t trust Malfoy, but the more time she had interacted with him, the more she felt she could ignore that for a good shag. Even admitting it to herself made her teeth grind but he was a lush prick. Luna was right, Malfoy had definitely grown into his looks and body. Not only was he physically desirable but Hermione hadn’t had the pleasure of a quick witted companion in what felt like ages. Even while she wanted to throttle him into a wall, she got a thrill from their banter.

Hermione shook her head to refocus. Malfoy Industries’ Yule celebration was tomorrow and it would be a nice to get a new dress with Luna. Hermione didn’t have much in the way of an upscale wardrobe and she felt the Malfoy event may require more than her typical woolen dresses.

Hermione sent an owl to Luna asking her to meet at King’s Road in Chelsea for some dress shopping. As the owl flew off, Hermione felt an uncomfortable twinge in her chest. Aside from her usual visits with Ron and Harry, she couldn’t recall the last time she had invited a friend out of her own free will. The thought made her grind her back teeth as she recalled her last fight with Hannah, the single serving lovers in Greece who begged her to call, and her parents’ happy faces enjoying the sun on a beach in Melbourne. Hermione felt her mind slip from those thoughts to her painful memories

_ She remembered the smell of her childhood home. The photos of the three of them that covered every wall. The sound of the news station that her parents were watching on the telly. _

_ “ _ Obliviate.”

_ She watched stills of herself fade from all the pictures. She watched her parents awkwardly shift on their old beige sofa as the spell dissolved Hermione from their memories and she planted the plan of moving to Australia. _

_ She held back her sobs until she was outside the front door. She heard her father happily address his wife, “What do you think of Australia? We’ve always wanted to go, so why not now?” _

_ Her mother’s happy agreement was followed by Hermione silently sobbing into her palms as she walked away from her childhood home. _

With all her might, Hermione pulled out of the painful memory away she instinctively started to reconsider going shopping at all. But she knew that if she didn’t show up, she would have to answer to Luna. Hermione would rather snog Ron again rather than have to face those distantly inquisitive blue eyes. Damn Luna and her sodding caring and intuitive nature.

Feeling disgruntled and suddenly suffocated in her office, she lunged for the door to make a quick escape to London. As she pulled it open she was affronted by a broad chest right in her face. It smelled like earth, peppermint and sandalwood.

“In a rush, are we?” drawled her untimely intruder.

Hermione cranked her head up, “Yes actually, Malfoy. I thought I wasn’t seeing you until tomorrow.”

Malfoy gently pushed her shoulders back into her office and closed the door behind him with a wandless  _ Muffliato  _ charm. “I brought you a gift.”

Hermione furrowed her brows as she took the slim black box from Malfoy’s hands. On a bed of silk inside the box was a pair of black lacy knickers with tie up sides and what looked like an oversized Muggle pill. 

“You’re going to wear them to the ball,” Malfoy stated simply, as if he just pointed out the sky was blue.

“Really?” Hermione asked incredulously, “ _ This _ is the best the illustrious Draco Malfoy can do to woo a woman? A pair of knickers? And what is this?” She asked picking up the odd oval object to inspect it.

“Not the best I can do, but that little thing, will be the star of your evening on tomorrow.” With a silent gesture of his fingers the object started vibrating in Hermione’s hand, gently then violently enough she felt the pulses up to her wrists. 

Hermione put it down in the box and smirked, excited by the new game they were playing, “Alright, I’ll bite. And what of you? I don’t have a special gift, for you.”

Malfoy leaned into Hermione’s ear and brushed her hair over her shoulder, causing her to shudder. “Don’t worry, you can make it up to me.” He gently nipped her earlobe and whispered, “Come to my flat at eight and we’ll go together.” With that, he turned and stalked out of the office leaving Hermione flushed and out of breath at the intimate contact. She looked down at the vibrating bullet to see if he had left it on. He hadn't. It was her knees shaking.

“Thank you for inviting me, Hermione. I haven’t been shopping in Chelsea before, it seems quite nice,” Luna dreamily remarked as the two women walked down King’s Road.

“Yes, I thought you wouldn’t mind the change of scenery from London and Diagon Alley,” Hermione replied as they stepped into a  _ Claudie Pierlot  _ shop.

After collecting a couple evening gowns from the racks Hermione moved to the dressing rooms to try them on while Luna sat on the small sofa waiting to see the show.

“Are you excited for your first date with Draco?” Luna called through the door.

“Oh, Luna! No! I’m not dating Malfoy, no,” she hastily replied as she stepped out to briefly scrutinize the dress before disappearing back into the room to try another.

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to offend. Do you prefer women? I heard about you and Hannah after the War. I like this dress better than the last,” commented Luna.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at the dress and stepped back into the room to try on the last one, “No offense taken, Luna. I, ah, sorry, do you mind getting a size bigger in this dress?” She passed Luna the last dress over the door, hoping to dodge the invasive questions.

“No problem,” Luna skipped away and promptly returned with the bigger dress. 

Hermione stepped out with a floor length silk black gown on. 

“You look wonderful! I think that might be the one,” Luna exclaimed.

Hermione smiled at her reflection. The dress had thread fine straps that criss crossed over her exposed back. It dipped low enough to expose the dimples just above her rump. The front was form fitting and a boatneck neckline, just exposing her collar bones. Luna was right, it looked stunning on her.

“Did you avoid my question because it made you uncomfortable?” Luna bluntly asked.

Pulling her eyes from her reflection, Hermione answer, “No… Somewhat. I just don’t talk to anyone about this sort of thing. But, em, no not just women, I like both. I’m not dating Malfoy because I have no interest in dating. Especially not that prat.” She returned to the room to redress in her street clothes.

“Bisexuality is a curiously splendid thing, I think. I imagine it’s lovely to have a wider pool of lovers to choose from,” Luna wondered enthusiastically.

Hermione awkwardly choked out a laugh, “You’re not wrong.” Fully redressed, but safely hidden away from those endless blue eyes in her dressing room, she felt herself crumble a bit, “Thank you, Luna.”

“What for? Come on, let’s stop at a café, I’m ravenous,” Luna replied as she started towards the counter.

Feeling grateful for her friends sage perceptiveness, Hermione stepped out of the dressing room to an empty sofa. She swallowed her brief vulnerability and pride as she was about to drop near three hundred pounds on a bloody dress.

****  
  


****  
  


Neville was lost in a book about psychedelic drug Muggle studies in his living room when the Floo in the study started to rumble. He looked up at the grandfather clock, he wasn’t expecting Luna back from Chelsea for several more hours. He grasped his wand, adrenaline and fear made his vision swim slightly and he cautiously walked to the study.

“Neville?”

Neville was taken aback and thoroughly confused. He called back to the disembodied voice, “Theo? Is that you?”

The other tall brunette popped out from around the corner causing Neville to fumble his wand, “‘Tis indeed! I haven’t heard from ye in a while, so get changed. Let’s get runnin’. Ye promised to keep me fit.”

Neville regained his composure and glanced at Theo’s ensemble, he was wearing tight black running leggings, a thick black zip up and orange trainers. It made him swallow hard.

“Well go on,” Theo urged him seemingly unaware of the other man’s nerves, “get changed and we’ll take a trail nearby. I’m sure ye’ve been down it already.”

Neville cleared his throat, “Okay, I’ll be a moment. Help yourself to some tea if you’d like.” He shuffled to his bedroom and stripped off his thick winter clothing. He opted out of wearing his own running leggings because he couldn’t think down his raging prick.  _ Merlin, he looks fit in athletic wear _ , Neville shook the thoughts out of his head and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and his own grey hoodie. He felt dread at having to keep his head about him with Theo nearby.  Neville’s heart was already racing.

The perpetual British drizzle of rain was unrelenting, even during December. Theo led the way to the trail just down the road from the cottage. He was right, Neville had been here before, but he typically preferred to run further away from his house, to keep his guilty thoughts away from Luna. With that, Neville ground his teeth, squeezed his eyes in gut wrenching guilt and took off into a full on run.

“Oi, bollocks, Neville! I’ve only just started to run, I can’t keep up with ye at that pace!”

Neville slowed his pace just enough to have Theo behind his shoulder. He didn’t want to think about Theo’s legs, wide shoulders, his heaving chest, messy dark hair or his stubbled cheeks. Neville fought the urge to sprint desperately and instead focused on the uneven ground beneath their feet.

After about two kilometres, Theo’s pace started to waver significantly. Neville took advantage of it and sprinted forward, hoping to leave his lingering arousal behind with Theo.

“‘Ey! Stop!” He could hear Theo yelling from behind him. Suddenly he was face down on the muddy path and Theo’s arms were wrapped around his waist from behind. “I may be out of shape, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let ye run away. Where were ye going?”

“Get off!” Neville snarled as he pulled himself up and away from the equally muddy Theo.

“What’s your problem? I won’t let ye run yourself into the ground anymore!”

“Why not? Since when did you start to care or even notice? Just leave me be, I need to run more and you’re clearly done.” Neville turned to run but Theo’s hand grasped his bicep and kept him firmly in place.

“I’ve cared for a long time, so watch it,” Theo snapped, then composed himself, “I don’t want to see ye hobbled and needing a cane everyday by the time you’re thirty. Why do ye do this? What’s eating at ye?”

Neville stared at the man with blazing green eyes, his hand still gripped on his arm. He was furious at Theo for… Whatever was happening to him. Neville thought he was perfectly capable of making hash of his own life without someone else butting in. He took several deep breaths to ease his needless anger, he knew it wasn’t Theo’s fault. But if he didn't have someone else to blame, all he had was himself. And that was a far more frightening thought than any battle he'd been in. 

“It’s just everything, you know? Ever since the War… Everything’s just harder. I thought time heals all wounds.” Neville answered dejectedly.

Theo moved his hand around Neville’s shoulders and casually started walking, “I know what ye mean, mate. The prospect of dying literally scared me out of the closet. Doesn’t mean things are any easier though.”

Neville was uncomfortable with this much physical contact with Theo. He awkwardly continued to walk next to him but resigned to put his hands in his jumper’s pocket. “I run to deal with these things. How do you? Is that why you disappear?”

He felt Theo stiffen next to him, “I’m not quite ready to talk about that. But yeh, that’s how I deal.”

 

The two men walked down the dreary forest path, covered in mud, one’s arm slung over the shoulders of the other, both completely unaware of how much they needed each other.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thank you for your patience, now back to our originally scheduled program.**

**Disclaimer:** _Harry Potter_ isn't my brain child. My bank account can vouch for that. 

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

 

Draco stepped out of the shower and healed the blazing red cuts over his chest and biceps. His little stunt with the knickers dredged up horrific dreams - memory fragments twisted by his worst fears of what could have happened all those years ago. He had punished himself but he wouldn't let them ruin this evening. He hadn't had someone who could match him when it came to the game of courting for a long while. With Granger's temper and apparent loose morals, tonight should be interesting.

As he applied his mint aftershave, he remembered how good Granger smelled in her office. She smelled warm like bergamot and coffee. Either she spent a lot of time in the shop or the smell permeates her flat. Regardless, he hoped she smelled like that tonight. He spritzed himself with his sandalwood cologne.

After pulling on his bespoke black two piece suit, complete with a white Oxford and a black tie, he ran some product through his hair and went downstairs to prepare some drinks in the living room's wet bar. As he poured himself a tumbler of scotch his Floo roared alive.

She looked stunning. Well, the back of her did. As she stepped out of the Floo she was getting a sense of the unfamiliar room and faced away from him. His eyes memorized every freckle, dimple and curve of her exposed back. She turned and did not disappoint. Her eyes were lined with thick lashes and liner, her skin, normally lightly freckled, was creamy and flawless, and her lips,  _Merlin_ , those lips were dabbed with a touch of gloss.

"I clean up pretty nice, don't I?" Granger spread her arms and twisted her hips to show off how the dress hugged every inch of her torso.

Draco chuffed a laugh, mastering a face of indifference and brought his tumbler of scotch to his lips, "Not bad at all, Granger. Scotch? Vodka?" Not bad was an understatement but he wouldn't tell her that. Based on the confidence she was exuding she knew how lush she looked in the dress. He was impressed,  _Definitely not the same buck toothed swot from school._

"I'm not picky," she replied as she made herself comfortable on his light grey sofa. She sniffed the glass as he handed it to her and took a seat across from her. "Gin. How very proper of you," she took a sip, "Of course, it's the best bloody gin I've ever had."

"Like I said, the veterans are funding my lifestyle." They shared a dark laugh. "So I must ask again, Granger. How is it, you work, what sixty hours a week at a desk, and you look like this?" Draco gestured to her body.

"I take a Muggle boxing class three times a week. So if you do anything tonight I don't like I can kill you with or without magic," she teased then took another sip of gin. "And you?" She gestured to his body in the same fashion he did.

"Genetics and Quidditch twice a week. Speaking of things you do and don't like, let's see if you were kind enough to wear my gift."

With the same quick gesture of his fingers as she had seen before, the bullet in her knickers roared to life. She squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in her lips as her body reacted immediately to the sensation. When she opened her eyes he was kneeling directly in front of her, slowly lifting her dress skirt.

"What are you -"

"Shh," Draco cut her off, "we can't have this making noise all night." He lazily ran his fingers up her inner thighs, coaxing her to spread her legs before cupping her mound. His heart was racing as he whispered a  _Muffliato_ charm. "You'll have to get a better poker face than that if you want to keep this a secret tonight." He ceased the vibrating, smirked and stood abruptly to discreetly adjust his growing desire. Draco held a hand out to her, "Come on, don't want to be too fashionably late."

She downed the last of her gin, took his hand and stood. She so close to him their bodies were nearly pressed together.

He leaned down to once again brush her hair over her shoulder. He planted a brief kiss on her neck and inhaled her sweet scent, "Oh, we're going to have so much fun tonight, Granger."

* * *

Stepping out of the Floo, Hermione didn't feel any less nervous. Or was she excited? She couldn't tell. All she knew was she had to master having a straight face tonight.

The room reminded her of the Great Hall at Hogwarts during the Yule ball in their fourth year. This only appeared to be the foyer of the event. Next to two sets of very large doors she spied Luna and Neville talking to a familiar tall dark haired man.

"A little ostentatious, no?" Malfoy politely asked.

"Well yeah, it's a Malfoy party. I wouldn't expect anything less," Hermione jested.

"This isn't  _this_ Malfoy's taste. My Mother insisted on being the event coordinator, so this is her handy work."

His mother? The woman who allowed her sister to torture and mutilate her. The mother of the man she was expecting to shag tonight. She was to meet his bloody mother in a normal, social fashion as if the Malfoy matriarch didn't want Hermione under her designer heels. "Maybe I should…" Hermione turned for the Floo.

Malfoy grabbed her upper arm, "Although I'm sure you could flip me right now, please stay. After nearly ten years of being a social outcast, she's learned that her racist ideologies aren't exactly popular. Besides, we haven't even started our game yet." He cocked his eyebrow as the pill in her knickers buzzed twice.

Hermione let out a small moan of anger and pleasure. "Fine," she bit out. "I'll stay. But if she, or you for that matter, makes a scene or nasty comments, I'm gone."

Malfoy held up both his hands in surrender, "Fair is fair. Now, let's go say hi to Luna and Neville. There's someone you ought to see who, I promise, isn't a racist biddy."

* * *

Draco led Granger through the crowd of people into the ballroom Luna, Neville and Theo had disappeared through. The look of wonderment on Granger's face was priceless. The grand room was a chilly white, but was warmed by the hints of red and gold across table dressings and other comfier furniture around the room. Floating sparkling lights filled the room, the ceiling was enchanted to snow up to about a metre over Draco's head, and each table was beautifully decorated with white and red poinsettias. Granger's reaction was warranted,  _Mother outdid herself this year._

Neville noticed Draco and waved them over. Neville's eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw Granger.

"Hermione," he smiled as they approached, "you look incredible!"

Granger let out a laugh, "Thank you, Neville. It's an art that only comes about every decade or so. I assume, this is who I was to meet; Theo, right?"

Theo took her hand and kissed the back of it while in an obscenely low bow, "Evening, Granger. You're looking just ravishing. I would assume, seeing as you're not quite my cuppa tea." He winked at her and his eyes, for the briefest of moments, flicked in Neville's direction.

Draco appeared to be the only one who noticed. "Alright, mate?" He asked Theo knowingly. Theo nodded and Draco set off to find a waiter to get everyone some drinks. When he returned Granger was questioning how he and Theo stayed in touch.

"After the War I was unhireable, for some strange reason. So Drake took me in as Chief Operating Officer at Malfoy Industries and I've been working under him ever since. Although I'm sure ye don't mind it, it's not the most pleasant position for me." Theo wickedly winked at Granger.

Her cheeks flushed and Draco took the moment into his own hands. With the flick of his fingers he engaged the secret nestled between Granger's legs and he heard a sharp intake of breath through her nose. They made searing eye contact from across their small group before Granger seemingly refocused on whatever nonsense Luna was spouting about.

Draco had to bite the inside of his cheeks from smiling.  _Merlin, this is good! She's actually playing along!_  His mouth was practically watering from anticipation.

A twist of white and black hair caught Draco's eye and he excused himself from the group before ceasing Granger's torment, at which she visibly relaxed.

"Hello, Mother," Draco greeted his events coordinator with a peck on the cheek. "Beautiful party. Thanks for arranging it."

Narcissa smiled up at her son, "You're welcome, dear. Are you enjoying yourself? Am I correct in hearing your date is Hermione Granger?"

"Yes, I am. She's not my date, she's here visiting with our old classmates." Draco felt his hackles rising. He didn't relish the idea of his mother's scheming with Granger involved. "There's nothing going on between us, so wipe that look off your face."

"She's quite beautiful, isn't she?" Narcissa gave a small smile and wave to Granger who was watching the silent conversation from across the ballroom.

"Perhaps. But we wouldn't want to muddy up the bloodline, now would we?" Draco sneered.

Narcissa smacked Draco across the arm, "Oh Draco, stop it. Give credit, where credit is due. I've donated to Muggle-born charities, coordinated their events free of charge. Hell, I've even started paying my sodding house Elves at your request. What more can I possibly do to amend what happened?"

Draco took a deep breath, feeling the usual tingle of a panic attack coming on. "You're right, Mother. I apologize, I shouldn't make a scene at your party. Pick somewhere for us to get breakfast together on Christmas day. Enjoy your evening." He pecked her on the cheek again and made a quick exit to a deserted balcony.

He braced his hands on the railing and leaned his head forward, taking painfully deep breaths and holding. Just as the feeling was passing, he heard someone join him.

"That looked bad," Granger dryly commented.

"I don't want to talk about it," Draco dangerously growled.

Impervious to the threat, Granger responded, "Good, because I don't really want to pretend to listen."

He stood up straight, slowly and looked at her profile that staring out over the city skyline. "What happened to you to make you like this?"

Granger shrugged and cast her glance sideways to him, "What happened to you to make you like  _this_?"

Draco sighed and returned to facing over the balcony ledge, hands clasped, forearms rested over the railing. "'War is a curious thing, don't you think?'" Luna had said that line to him many times over their years of friendship.

"Yeah," she agreed knowingly.

* * *

When they returned inside, groups had dispersed to make room on the dance floor for couples to sway slowly to the music playing. Hermione didn't recognise it, but it was a hauntingly festive piano accompanied by flutes, violins and a deep male melodic voice.

"Lorcan d'Eath," Malfoy answered her thoughtful face as he pulled her to dance floor and embraced her as he led their dance. "He was a half vampire singer. Very popular with the witches."

"I've never heard of him. It's very beautiful." She felt her cheeks fill with blood as his fingers lightly grazed up and down her spine at the small of her back. His fingers drummed against her skin and she felt the vibrations pick up again. She was happy their encounter on the balcony hadn't derailed the evening plans she had anticipated.

Malfoy held her tight against him and bent down to whisper in her ear, "Tell me when you're close."

His voice was like honey and it send a rush of heat to her stomach. Hermione laid her cheek against his chest to hide part of her face as they swayed. Her knees became weaker and weaker as the song went on. Her knickers were soaked through and she could feel herself leaking between her thighs as she clenched her muscles. She could feel his heart was racing as fast as hers but her breathing was far more erratic. She glanced up at him, he was calmly staring at a wall over her head as if he wasn't supporting most of her weight. Tears started pricking at her eyes as she was reaching her peak and squeezed his hand clasped in hers, "Now."

The vibrations stopped and he pulled back from her causing her to stumble. He grinned wickedly and kissed her cheek, "Thank you for coming out tonight, Granger. I had a wonderful time. I'll see you in a week." With that, Malfoy strode from the room and disappeared through a Floo.

Standing in the middle of the dance floor, humiliated and soaked between her legs, she felt her fury in a way she had never felt before. She stormed from the room, hoping no one noticed her flushed face and neck and Flooed back to her own flat. She pulled the ruined knickers down past her knees as she was barely out of the sooty hearth and starting rubbing herself furiously.

She imagined hitting him in the face, causing him to fall to the floor. Binding him with an  _Incarcerous_  and riding him for her own pleasure. It didn't take long for her to come after the evening she had. As she came down from her orgasm, she snarled loudly to no one.

_Fuck Malfoy! Fuck that bloody tosser! Seven years worth of humiliation wasn't enough, now he had to ruin sex for her? The one ruddy thing she had control over!_

She screamed in frustration at her own stupidity at letting herself even imagine having Draco  _fucking_ Malfoy as a sexual partner. She knew this would happen and she did nothing to stop it.

"You did this to yourself, you insufferable know-it-all," Hermione scolded herself out loud.

* * *

"Hey, where did Drake get off to?"

Theo glanced over his shoulder to see Pansy sit at his empty table. "Hey, I don't know. Last I saw he was dancing with Granger."

Pansy's eyebrow cocked amusedly, "He brought Granger as a date? Huh, I guess he may have been fibbing when he said he didn't talk to her much."

Theo's eyes were glued across the room on Neville and Luna dancing wildly across the room. "Yeh I suppose, but she seemed pretty insistent they weren't here as a couple."

"Oh yeah? You spoke with her?" Pansy asked following his gaze.

Theo shrugged, "Somewhat. We mainly just talked about work." He cleared his throat and looked down at his drink. "Do ye want another water or tea?"

"No." Pansy stared at her best friend, "Longbottom?"

"Longbottom." He sullenly confirmed, eyes downcast.

Pansy felt a swell of panic in her chest, wishing Drake was here to help talk him down. "Please don't go disappear again. Last time you were gone for a whole week. I just got you back," she reached into his lap and squeezed his hand.

Theo glanced up to see Luna heading towards the exit and Neville approaching the table with a small, boyish grin on his face. Theo sighed roughly and rubbed his face, "Alright, fine. I won't go. But ye fecking owe me, woman. All that I do for ye people, I can't believe I was sorted into Slytherin. Alright, Neville?"

Neville plopped himself down in a chair next to Pansy, "Yeah! I love these sort of celebrations. It reminds me of the Yule ball in Hogwarts! I was last to arrive in my dorm, even Seamus was in bed before I got back!"

Luna sat next to Theo as the song changed and Neville held his hand out to Pansy.

"Might I have this dance, Ms Parkinson?"

Pansy took his hand and followed him to the dance floor, "Oh you Gryffindor men, keeping chivalry alive." Looking teasingly over her shoulder at Theo who flipped her two fingers.

Rarely ever alone with Lovegood, Theo was unsure of what to say, "How's it, Luna?"

"I'm on the lookout for Nargles. They often infest mistletoe, you know," she replied gazing at the poinsettia centerpiece.

"I didn't know that. While our dates are busy, could I accompany ye on your hunt?" Theo stood.

"That's nice of you. I haven't checked the upstairs yet," she replied following his lead.

Once they arrived at the massive stairwell, Theo started pulling down mistletoe sprigs for Luna to investigate. Hoping Narcissa wouldn't walk by and give him a tongue lashing for undoing all her hard work.

"Thank you for going with Neville on his runs. He doesn't seem to know when to stop and hurts himself worse each time," Luna remarked as she inspected the sprig in his hand and shook her head when she deemed it Nargle-free.

"He told ye about that?" Theo asked, feeling a little awkward. "It's no problem, like I told him, running couldn't hurt my growing gut." He chuckled lightly before growing serious again, "Besides he hasn't owled me about a run since I offered, I had to go to him while ye were in Chelsea. So it might just be an offer left on the table."

"He went on a run at the end of November, he didn't need his cane. I wonder if he didn't push himself so hard so he could dance. Neville loves to dance." She was quiet for a few moments before she seemed to find her train of thought again. "I think you were away on one of your trips. Did you go somewhere pleasant?"

"No." Theo growled, feeling anger grow in his chest at Neville's broken promise.  _Well speak of the devil and he shall appear._ He watched Neville stroll across the foyer to the mens toilets. "Do ye mind continuing on your own, I have to hit the loo."

Theo entered the toilets behind Neville, checked for other intruders and wordlessly locked and silenced the room. He waited until Neville was done at the urinal before launching into his attack.

"Oh, hi Theo. Are you enjoying yourself?" Neville asked brightly as he dried off his freshly washed hands.

"I was hunting Nargles with your girlfriend until she told me a funny story. Would ye like to hear it? It's about a man who runs for some fecking reason even though it causes him to use a ruddy cane. This man explicitly promised his friend he would call him for his runs. Yet he didn't. I suppose it's not very funny, but quite relatable, yeh?" Theo had backed Neville against the tiled wall during his story.

Neville's face cracked with guilt and fear, "I-I'm sorry Theo, I knew you were away and you don't like to be disturbed so I thought…"

Theo let out a loud frustrated breath and hung his hands limply at his side, "You're right. I was. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at ye. I'm not planning to go away any time soon, so write me. Even if I'm away. Ulysses, Drake's owl can always find me." Theo's hand was gripping Neville's forearm and slide down tentatively to hold his hand.

Neville stared down at the clasped hands, his breath shaking as it came out. "Okay. I'm sorry I worried you. I'm okay, though. I was fine after our run and you saw me dancing," he flashed that boyish grin that made Theo's heart splinter.

He smiled back at Neville, "Yeh, I did. Ye'll have to teach me sometime. I have two left feet."

Slowly, Neville put his arm around Theo's waist and pulled him close, "You can put your hand on my shoulder or on my waist, I suppose there isn't a protocol for two men." He raised their clasped hands in the air and started to move them in a simple box step. Theo chose Neville's waist. His heart jumped at the taught muscle under his hand. In that moment Theo felt a little self conscious about his flabbier body and vowed to get into better shape. Even if Neville was only interested in birds, it wouldn't hurt to be leaner.

"How do ye know I wouldn't need to know how to lead a woman?" Theo teased.

Neville smiled and shook his head, "I may be forgetful, but I'm not dense. Besides, I don't think Pansy cares if you can sway in one spot or move your feet in a box like this."

* * *

Neville looked down at their feet and realised for the first time how close their bodies were. Only mere centimetres separated their level chests. Neville cleared his throat, growing uncomfortable at the fluttering in his chest, "For the box step, it's just one foot forward, or backward in my case, left foot follows, left foot steps to the right, right foot follows. Yeah, just like that. Right foot back, left follows, left to starting position and right follows. Brilliant! You now know how to dance!"

Theo wiggled his hips in a ridiculously exaggerated fashion as they continued to step, "I'm a natural, I won't be able to keep the men off me!"

Neville laughed while he stopped the step and made to let go of the other man, but Theo gently pulled Neville against the entire length of his body. Neville could feel Theo's equally elevated heart rate, which couldn't have been from their leisurely dancing.

Theo cocked his head and whispered in Neville's ear, "Thank ye for the free lesson. I'll have to pay ye back somehow," he paused, seemingly wanting to say more but caught himself. "Happy Christmas, Neville." With a squeeze, Theo let go and stepped back.

Neville could feel his cheeks were full of blood as he smiled at Theo, "Happy Christmas, Theo." He held the door open for Theo then went to find Luna. His long time partner. To go back to their home. Neville's heart sank and he felt the desire to run home, but fought it. He'd made a promise he didn't intend on breaking.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: This is my second favourite chapter! I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:** I'm only so creative, unfortunately, not creative enough to think of  _Harry Potter_ first. Therefore, to punish my ineptitude, I've not monetized this.

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN

All Hermione wanted to do the next morning was Floo to that bastard's flat and scream at him until her face turned purple. How could he be such an incorrigible git?!  _Because he's Draco sodding Malfoy and you let him in. Of all the people to let in and entertain the idea of being a paramour, you picked a fucking Malfoy. The same one who stood aside while you were carved up and tortured._

" _... What else did you and your friends take from my vault?"_

Hermione shut her eyes tight and squeezed her teacup as hard as she could. She couldn't forget that vile witch's breath on her face or the joyed expression she wore as she gouged her blade into Hermione's forearm. Lest she forget the feeling of the  _Cruciatus_ curse ripping its way through her nerves and bones. When she sat still too long sometimes she could still feel it lingering in her body. The burning of Dark Magic never seemed to have left her.

She hurled the delicate teacup across the room with a frenzied shriek and condemned Malfoy for making her relive her worst memories after years of learning to shut them out. She hadn't felt this unhinged since before Hannah and it made her feel weak. Disgusted in herself that she let someone so insignificant to her set her back.

Eying her Floo, she made her decision.

* * *

_Maybe I took it too far._

Draco worriedly thought the next morning as he pulled on a white t-shirt and dark Muggle jeans. The game with the knickers was how he'd see who was be worthy of joining him in bed. He found it to be a good method of sifting out any prudes or boring types. But he had never pulled the plug that prematurely. He used to love riling Granger up and apparently he still did. When he left the ballroom he had caught a glimpse of the expression she wore and it was nothing short of murderous. The memory brought a grin to his face.

Although angry Granger was fun, Thank Merlin Granger was now an uncaring nutter or else he'd have the wards changed on his flat for fear of his life. No, this new Granger seemed to be more of the cut and run variety.

Still, the guilt had settled in his gut once he returned home last night. He took a potion for Dreamless Sleep for fear of what this guilt would conjure in the way of nightmares. That was indicator enough that he knew what he did to her last night hadn't been okay.

He shrugged, there wasn't much he could do about it now and she certainly wouldn't want to hear from him so soon. Perhaps he'd give her some flowers before the Ministry's Yule celebration, which he still fully intended on attending. He darkly chuckled to himself as he prepared himself a pot of tea when he heard his Floo roar.

He grabbed his wand and forced a face of indifference as he peeked his head down the hall to see a furious Granger coming at him, wand in hand. "Care for a cup, Granger?" He drawled as she entered the kitchen. His stomach twisted in anticipation. New Granger was apparently unpredictable.

With a shocking amount of physical force she pushed him back up against his refrigerator and stabbed her wand into his throat, "Why?" She asked dangerously.

Draco could feel his heart racing so hard it ached, his clenched fists shook violently but he made no attempt to retaliate. If she ended him then and there it would be the poetic justice she deserved.  _I definitely went too far_ , he concluded. He kept his tone bored, "Because I've just made a pot for myself and didn't want to be rude."

She was having none of his shite and she made that clear by removing her wand and punching him hard below his ribs. He bent at the waist and let out a surprised howl. She pushed him back upright and stood on her tiptoes to yell in his face, "Why are you fucking with me? Why did you make me go out with you just to humiliate me? Did the War do nothing to change you, you pathetic waste of space."

He met her blazing golden eyes, still holding his middle. Giving nothing away with his eyes, he jerked his head towards the living room, "Want to get pissed about it?"

* * *

Slowly backing away from Malfoy, she felt her anger recede slightly. Getting pissed sounded like a good way to avoid her problems of the day. No matter how Malfoy answered her questions she would still have to return to her flat and her newly unearthed memories.

She turned on her heel and stalked back to the living room. She uncorked the gin she had sampled last night and filled a tumbler to the brim. She sat a black leather chair in the corner of the room, careful to avoid the sofa Malfoy had felt her up on only hours ago.

Malfoy walked in rubbing his ribs in discomfort. "I can tell you you're getting your money's worth from those Muggle boxing classes. Merlin, Granger. I'm lucky you weren't this strong in third year." He filled his own tumbler with an amber liquor, still wincing as he rubbed his ribs with his left hand.

Hermione snorted and drank deeply from the crystal glass. If she wanted to get sloshed she might as well get on with it. She grimaced at the alcoholic burn, "Are you going to answer my questions?"

Sucking air through his teeth as he finished off his glass, Malfoy met her eyes with a blank stare, "No. Are you going to answer mine from last night?"

"Not a chance," she raised her glass in a mock toast and he tilted his in her direction, then drained it.

"Right. So what do you propose we do while we get tossed? I have a fun physical activity in mind but something tells me you'll shoot that down," he teased as he filled his cup again.

Hermione flipped him two fingers and finished her own cup before holding it out to him to top up, "Tell me about your conquests. I'm curious if  _The Daily Prophet_ is even remotely accurate."

Malfoy handed her full tumbler back to her and he drank from his own, "Okay. What do you want to know?" He took his seat at the end of the groping sofa on the cushion closest to her. Their knees about 30 centimetres away from touching.

Feeling the swim of gin in her brain already, "How many women have you actually been with? I saw an article that said over one hundred." She wickedly snickered into her cup.

Malfoy scoffed with her at the ludacrisity of the claim, "I have to say I'm surprised you're reading that rubbish, Granger."

"I'm a bookshop owner, Malfoy, I can't help it if my customers want to indulge in that minging tabloid," Hermione scoffed.

"Touché," he smiled as he sipped from his cup, clearly thinking of his response. "Women? I'd say… fifteen?"

Hermione caught the distinction and her interested piqued, "And men?"

"I've only been with men during group sex,  _ménage à trois,_ larger groups, that sort of thing. I believe there have only been three," Malfoy replied casually. Watching her to gauge her reaction.

She wasn't wholly surprised about the gender of some of his partners. After finding out herself that both men and women have pleasure to offer she was happy to hear other people explored that avenue as well. What did surprise her was his number. "Hmm. Eighteen? I would've thought…"

"Listen Granger, I'll admit I'm a slag, but I'm quite particular about what I expect from my partners. I haven't the foggiest idea why  _The Prophet_ thought I've shagged scores of women," he answered, slightly bemused. "And you?" He took a sip from his nearly empty glass.

A smile creeped its way onto her face. She was definitely tipsy thanks to her empty stomach. Hermione noted the rosiness splotching Malfoy's cheeks. She also noticed for the first time this morning, the slightest shadow of dark blond stubble all over the lower half of his face. "You look nice with some facial hair. You're not so…" failing to find the words she spread her hands in the air and stuck her tongue out of her open mouth, "baahh. You know?"

Malfoy amusedly raised his eyebrows and chuckled, "'Baahh?' Is my bare face alarming to you?"

"No, but it makes you look less like your …" Hermione clapped her mouth shut. She knew better than to bring up Lucius Malfoy. If she recalled correctly Lucius died in Azkaban from exposure shortly after being incarcerated after the War. "Sorry." She muttered glancing over at him.

"It's fine. But thanks for the fashion advice" He emptied his glass and sat it on the mahogany coffee table in front of them. "Now back to the topic at hand. Where do you rank on the slag scale?"

Hermione's smile came back at his crassness. She snorted, "I don't know, I didn't keep count." She held out her hand and started counting off outloud, "Well there was Viktor, obviously, in the summer of fifth year. Adam, my childhood Muggle neighbour shortly thereafter, Hannah… And one, two, three… six people collectively from my Greek vacations and my current partner." Hermione placed her empty cup on the table next to Malfoy's, feeling pleasantly sloshed.

"My money's on Potter being your current shag," Malfoy accused, pointedly learning forward over the sofa arm with a challenging smile on his face.

Her gin logged brain couldn't think of a quick enough response. She hadn't been directly asked about the nature of her and Harry's relationship since they began shagging. The tabloids hadn't asked about them after the War because Harry had been with Ginny publically and he was their saviour, afterall. "No… I, uh..."

Those few beats of silence was all Malfoy needed as confirmation and his challenging smile turned to smug and knowing.

Hermione loudly huffed in frustration, "Don't say anything. No one except you knows." She angrily rubbed her forehead.

"Well since I'm the only one who knows, I assume you haven't talked about it with anyone. So, tell me."

Her anger flared at him for pulling her secret out of her, "Why? So you can humiliate me more? I don't trust you, I don't know why you think I would tell you something so personal!"

"I didn't let you come at the celebration because I love to rile you up," His grey eyes fixed on the wall across from him. "I forgot how fun you are when you're angry. I wanted to know if that part of you was lost along with your other emotions." His eyes now boring into hers.

"You can't just manipulate me like that! I'm not for you to toy with!" She stood and yelled over him. "How  _dare_ you use me for your own pleasure?"

Malfoy stared up back at her, "You don't like it when I use you for my own pleasure?"

She angrily rolled her eyes at the innuendo and he reached out for her hand. He pulled her to the sofa to sit next to him.

"I'm not sorry I did it, but I'm sorry I made you feel used. I won't do that again. Tell me about Potter." His expression was blank, unreadable.

She sat and mulled over his apology. When she deemed it acceptable (really, she just didn't want to spend her day of drinking angry) she pulled on leg up onto the sofa, tucked it under her other thigh and turned to face him. "I don't know what there is to tell. We've been shagging on and off since Ron left us while we were hunting Horcruxes. We stop whenever the other is seeing someone else and we've never had any inclination for a romantic relationship, so works well for our current situations."

"All the way back then? Is that why you and Weasley didn't get together?"

Hermione sputtered through tight lips before laughing, "No. Harry wasn't why we didn't get together. I'd had sex with three men up until that point, the first two I'd lusted after for a while and I never felt that way with Ron. At least Harry had some sense about him when it came to being an attentive lover. I didn't see that in Ron."

"Huh. Gross," Malfoy proclaimed.

Hermione batted him on the arm gently. "Sod off, Malfoy. I didn't make fun of your partners." She fell silent then wondered out loud, "Have you shagged Pansy or Theo?"

The question gave Malfoy pause, as if he was unsure how to answer her. "Theo no. He's solely into blokes and I need at least one bird in the mix." He seemed extremely apprehensive to discuss Pansy.

"Hey, I told you about Harry," Hermione reminded him. "Plus, it's not like you two were discreet in sixth year. Anyone with eyes saw that you were shagging."

"Yes but Potter doesn't want to run for Minister of Magic. Pansy does. But yes, Pansy and I did hook up on and off throughout sixth year."

Hermione could sense that wasn't where the story ended. Through her swimming consciousness, she reached out her hand and placed it on his, which was rested on his thigh, "You don't have to tell me but it might help to get it out." She gave him a small smile.

It wouldn't be until much later that Hermione would recognise her shift in temperament towards another person's feelings. But Draco noticed.

* * *

Draco looked down at the small hand that covered his, bewildered. He didn't think he'd ever be on the receiving end of Granger's compassion. He certainly didn't deserve to be.  _It must be the gin,_ he thought as his own brain was swimming from the scotch. He cursed himself for drinking on an empty stomach. He would pay for it later that evening when the hangover hit. "I haven't eaten yet and I don't know about you but I'm already somewhat pissed."

Hermione retracted her hand and smiled wider, "Yeah, me too. What do you have?" She got up and made for the kitchen.

He watched her denim clad hips as she skipped to his kitchen. Thank Merlin he chose jeans to wear today or his growing erection would be harder to hide if he were wearing his normal trousers. Draco stood, pulled his jeans to adjust himself and followed her.

She was opening and looking through his cabinets as he leaned against the doorframe to watch her. "Looking for anything in particular?"

"Do you have any crisps? Or maybe some biscuits?"

Draco scoffed and crossed the room to open the refrigerator, "Yes, but I think something more substantial would help our inevitable hangovers. How about some sausage rolls, carrots and chips? I haven't been to the grocery yet this week."

"That sounds fine, but I'm taking these as well," Granger replied holding a box of  _Peek Freans_  Fruit Cremes.

Draco chortled, "Alright. Plates are to your right and dining room is across the hall. I'll bring the actual food."

They ate their odd breakfast in silence as Draco contemplated how truthful he should be with Granger. "It's not that I don't want to tell you about Pansy. " He said finally breaking the silence, "It could really hurt her chances at becoming Minister of Magic and after everything… I couldn't do that to her."

Granger just sat and stared at him with that familiar deep in thought look. "Two years ago I was mugged in London. I was about to Apparate home from Muay Thai - that Muggle boxing class I take - but I decided to stop at a shop to buy a new tea blend. I knew my wand was tucked into my purse because I brushed it when I pulled out my wallet to pay for the tea. It was dark by the time I stepped out and I walked down an alley to Apparate. A man came up behind me and smashed my face into the building wall. He pinned my arms behind my back and pushed his leg up between mine. His mate or whatever grabbed my purse and made to run off with it but I was able to break free from his hold. I broke the nose of the man who held me and punched the windpipe of the man with my bag. The one who held me ran away. I must've struck the other man's throat too hard because he was making these awful gurgling sounds like he was trying to talk but couldn't. I knew I could've healed him but I couldn't be bothered to care or do it. I Apparated home from there. I don't know if he's alive or not."

Salazar's fucking bollocks.

She straightened and wiped any emotion that may've been lingering on her face, "So there you are. You know the worst thing I've done since the War."

Draco was at a loss for words. This was so clearly not the Granger he knew from Hogwarts. If the Sorting Hat were to sit atop her head today, she'd probably be put in Slytherin.

He sighed and looked at the biscuit he was holding in his hands. He internally cringed at the soft twat drinking was turning him into. With Granger, of all people. "After the War, a lot of Slytherins who didn't take the Dark Mark, like Pansy, weren't subjected to a trial. Pansy said she and most of Slytherin were locked in the dungeons for most of the battle, actually. But as you know, Fenrir Greyback evaded capture for a while. He… He kidnapped Pansy and a few other Slytherin girls. It was only for a month but it was long enough to fuck all those girls up. He didn't kill or turn them so you can imagine what he did do. Pansy wouldn't go into detail about it. The Ministry kept the kidnapping quiet at the request of all the girls. They weren't found for that long because most of their parents were either dead or in Azkaban for being Death Eaters." Draco took a deep breath and continued, "Pansy took to drinking to help her cope with it all. The Ministry set her up with a job as a Secretary in Magical Law Enforcement and since then she's worked her way up to the head of the department, but the job didn't stop her from getting hammered every night. Some nights she'd have me over and I'd get tossed too because she was a fun drunk. Other nights she'd have loads of people over… But to answer your question, yeah, I've shagged Pansy since sixth year. Some of the times I don't remember and I'm sure there are times neither of us remember. My stupid twenty year old brain was just excited to be done with Voldemort and being scared all the time. I took advantage of my best friend when she was at her lowest point. That went on for three years." Draco hung his head in self pity. "She's been sober for three years now and has said there's nothing to apologise for but my guilty conscience is a force to be reckoned with these days."

He glanced up to see her reaction, it was still impassive and unreadable. She put her hand on his shoulder, "I agree with Pansy. You shouldn't feel guilty anymore. It sounds like she's already forgiven you of whatever pain you  _may_ have caused her. Stop wasting your time feeling guilty over things you can't fix."

Draco bit out a laugh, "I should make you an honorary Slytherin. You're sounding more and more like us."

Granger squeezed his shoulder before releasing it, "Maybe you lot had the right idea with this sort of thing." She stood and started towards the living room, "Let's get another drink and you can show me around this place. It's a lot smaller than the Manor."

They spent the rest of the day wandering in and out of rooms of Draco's flat discussing classical wizard literature. He admitted he'd been interested in reading Muggle literature but his work schedule dictated most of his reading time. She recommended a story called, "To Kill A Mockingbird". She enquired about his choice to not employ a House Elf full time. He "nattered on" as Granger put it, about his current Quidditch season. She showed him some self defense maneuvers before they wound up back on the sofa in his living room.

Sat right up against him, Granger leaned her head against Draco's bicep, being too short to reach his shoulder. "Good idea to start day drinking. It made me significantly less mad at you, but now I'm knackered." Granger teased and yawned.

"Yeah well, Granger, that's my second move. The first is to embarrass the woman in front of all my employees, and third is to talk about the worst things I've done since the War." He turned his head to smirk at her.

She snorted a laugh and closed her eyes before she whispered, "Can I ask you something?"

Draco's head was resting on the back of the sofa with his own eyes closed. He felt remarkably relaxed with Granger's head against his arm. Day drinking was a very good idea, it turned out she was quite good company. "You just asked me something, you dolt."

She pinched his forearm that rested between their thighs. "Prick."

He smirked, "What is it?"

"Why do you feel so guilty about things? What changed?" she whispered.

Draco stiffened. He wasn't expecting her to care, let alone ask. He straightened his neck to face the wall in front of them and opened his eyes. "Like I said, Granger. I grew up. I can see past my own situation now and I know what I did… I know that I'm the reason the War started. I let evil into a school for bloody children." He took a deep breath. "I've worked hard to not be a blithering mess about it. But with the sales of my potions, people have actually thanked me as if I've helped them. As if they don't remember what I did. I know I will never forget it."

Granger was quiet for a long time and Draco waited, still tensed, waiting to see if he had destroyed the fun and potentially promising day they'd had together.

"Sometimes I wish it hadn't had to be us. That the fate of the world hadn't rested on the shoulders of a bunch of seventeen year olds. But someone had to fight and better us than some child's parents," she whispered, her eyes squeezed closed.

"There's that bleeding Gryffindor heart. I thought that had shrivelled up and died," Draco taunted and he poked her knee.

Her eyes relaxed but remained closed as her grimace turned to a small smile. He relaxed at the sight.

"And your fourth?" She questioned after some time.

"Hm?" He looked down at her now open eyes, which were glued to his mouth.

"What's your fourth move?"

His adrenaline spiked and he leaned down to gingerly press his lips against hers. Draco didn't feel drunk anymore, but he didn't want to push it if she was. He pulled back, "Are you still drunk?"

She shook her head.

With force, he took her mouth and steered her to straddle his lap. She let out a breathy sigh and braced her arms on the back of the sofa around his head. Draco grasped her hips and pulled her body closer to his. She was crushing her mouth hard onto his and started grinding her pelvis against his lap. He groaned and wrapped one arm fully around her middle and grabbed her head with the other. They continued snogging and grinding until she suddenly pulled away breathless with a wicked smile.

"I'll see you in a week," and backed into the Floo before he had a chance to stop her.

He leaned his head back on the sofa, ran both hands through his disheveled hair and laughed out loud to no one.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: The day has finally arrived, my fellow smut fiends. We have some sexy scenes in this chapter, which is a loooong one. Pun intended. Excuse me, while I go high five myself for my comedic prowess. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:** I'm obviously not the original author of  _Harry Potter_  because apparently, wizards don't fuck. But in my world, oooooh do they ever. This isn't monetized because, I like my porn free.

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT

The week passed in a haze. Hermione had finished up her Christmas shopping for Neville and Luna and for the first time in a while she felt like decorating her flat. She didn't go so far as to get a Christmas tree, but instead hung a sprig of mistletoe and donned Muggle fairy lights around the living room. It might not have appeared to be much, but it was more than Hermione had done in years.

While she was in London, she picked up a gift for Malfoy that she had enchanted and would give him tonight before they left for the Ministry's Yule celebration. She glanced at the clock and saw she had an hour before he arrived. In her bedroom she slipped on an above the knee lacy, emerald green, 3/4 sleeve dress. She straightened her wavy locks and admired the length. It was nearly to her low back like this.

For make up, she wanted to make a statement. She applied the same foundation, liner and lashes she wore to Malfoy's event and added a burgundy lip to tie it together. The gift she had for Malfoy was making her feel like being a tease. Her dress was off the shoulder so she sprinkled her exposed collarbone and shoulders with honey shimmer dust and threw on a pair of black pumps.

He would be arriving any moment so she tucked the gift into the same box he presented her with weeks back. With that, she heard him in her living room, "Granger?"

She stepped out of her bedroom and into the living area. "Hi," she smiled feeling by his expression she already won this evening. She needed to take back some power if she wanted to continue this game with him.

Malfoy's silvery eyes slid over her entire body and hungrily stared into hers. "You look incredible."

"I know. The season brings it out of me!" Hermione surprised herself at that statement. The season used to bring it out of her. It didn't anymore. But she wouldn't fight a good thing when she was certain of her impending victory. "I have a gift for you this time." She held the box out in a fabricated coy manner.

He closed the distance between them and took the box, pausing as his fingers covered her hand. When he opened the box, he had a confused look on his face, "What is it?"

Hermione couldn't stop herself from smiling widely, "It's part of  _your_  outfit tonight." His expression hadn't change indicating he still didn't understand its purpose. She sighed, "It's a device you put on your cock. It pulses and pulls gently on the bellend. Like a hands free wank session."

Malfoy's eyes lit up and he smirked, "Alright, I see, Granger. We're still playing, are we?"

"Mhmm. You may want to change into thicker trousers or else you may be booted from the party," she suggested, gesturing at his dark navy three piece suit.

He chuckled and responded, "I'll be back in a few moments," and disappeared through her Floo.

* * *

Draco returned to Granger's flat in a thick black trousers, a grey tuxedo jacket with a black lapel, a white Oxford and a black bowtie.

"I didn't take you for a bowtie man," Granger teased as she picked up the box he left on her Floo mantle.

"I'm not surprised. Up until the Malfoy Industries Yule celebration, I didn't think you had any sort of fashion sense. Are you going to help me with that?" He asked gesturing to the box while he skimmed his hands up her shapely waist. A small voice in the back of his mind couldn't believe he was touching the bushy haired, steel knickered, buck-tooth Granger like this. An even louder voice couldn't believe she was letting him and how much he enjoyed the feeling of her.

"I thought it would be the courteous thing to do. Now, you have to be hard to get it on right so - "

Draco cut her off by roughly coming down on her mouth. He pulled her body against his and twisted his fingers through her straight tresses. "I like your hair better wavy," he muttered into the hollow of her throat.

She gasped and grabbed the back of his neck, "That's nice. I like it both ways." She surprised him by licking up the side of his neck and sucking gently on his earlobe. He groaned and sucked more of her sweet tasting skin into his mouth.

Having completely forgotten about her objective, Draco was shocked when she unzipped his trousers and grabbed his cock with force. He let out a strangled moan at the sensation.

"Well done, you've completed your part," she remarked cooly. Granger pulled the silicone device over his bellend and whispered an incantation he missed due to all the blood rushing in his ears. She stepped back from him and pulled on her cloak. "Zip up, it's time to go."

He did as he was told and smoothed the front of his jacket.

She turned to him before she stepped into Floo. "You kept the stubble," she remarked, smiling.

"Yeah, I don't relish the idea of looking like Lucius," he replied, matter-of-factly. That was the truth but if the woman he wanted to shag liked stubble, then he didn't mind keeping it.

With that, she turned and Flooed to the event, Draco following in tow.

* * *

The Ministry's event was held in a far more modest ballroom than Malfoy's had been in. There were Christmas trees in every corner, an ice sculpture of the Ministry's emblem at the forefront of the room and candles floating from the ceiling. The guest list was obviously smaller than Malfoy's had been simply based on the size of the room itself.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was the first the approach the odd couple. "Hermione! Glad you decided to come this year," he gave her a warm smile and a firm handshake. "And Mr. Malfoy, I can't say I'm not surprised to see you here with Ms. Granger as opposed to Ms. Parkinson."

Malfoy didn't skip a beat, "Yes well, Pansy is far too busy at these sort of events to be minding me as well."

Kingsley laughed heartily, "Right you are. We'd all be lucky to even get a moment alone with her." He clapped Malfoy on the shoulder, "Enjoy the evening, you two."

They replied with a polite "thank you" and "Minister".

Once he was out of earshot Malfoy whispered, "Pansy's got her work cut out for her if she wants to run against him. He irritates me which means he's probably quite charming to the rest of you."

Hermione smirked, "Yes, he's very favourable thanks to his taking over the position during the War. I don't doubt she'll get the position though. Pansy seems like someone who gets what they want."

Malfoy snorted as if to say, "you have no idea." He spied the bar and made a sweeping gesture for her to lead the way.

After her day of binge drinking hard liquor with Malfoy last week, the thought of liquor made Hermione feel ill, but she knew she'd need something to get through the questions and pointed fingers about her and the tall blond at her elbow. She ordered herself a butterbeer, and he ordered his typical scotch.

A pair of rough hands clapped over Hermione's eyes from behind, "Surprise!"

Hermione turned swiftly to push the invader away but was pleasantly surprised to see Harry standing before her. He had a long scratch from his cheek to his brow bone and what appeared to be a healing fat lip. "Harry! You're home early!" She threw her arms around his neck.

"Yeah, I was able to wrap things up in Bosnia early. But I'm your gift since I didn't have time to consider another for you," he teased, hugging her back earnestly.

"That's alright. I don't need anything, anyway. Uh, Harry, I've brought Malfoy with me tonight," she said awkwardly holding her hand out as if presenting Malfoy.

Harry's face darkened, "Yeah, I noticed. What, is he holding Crookshanks hostage to be here?"

Hermione's face remained blank, "No. Crookshanks died a couple weeks ago." She felt Malfoy's stance stiffen behind her.

"Oh 'Mione. I had no idea, why didn't you tell me in your letters? I'm so sorry," Harry sounded genuinely concerned and pulled her in for another hug.

"It's fine, he was old when I got him. I'm surprised he lived as long as he did, to be honest. His ashes are on my Floo mantle," Hermione hugged Harry back, but more for his benefit. She knew Crookshanks' life was near its end. People, animals, beasts: they all die, why waste time being sad about the unavoidable?

Harry pulled back slowly looking apprehensive, "Okay, well I just want to make sure you're okay." Hermione impatiently nodded. "Right, well I'll go find Ron and Romilda. I doubt they'll be here long with Romilda's energy levels." Harry kissed her on the cheek and nodded at Malfoy as he departed.

"Why didn't you tell  _me_  about your cat?" Malfoy growled from behind her.

She turned to face him, "Same reason I didn't tell Harry. He was old, it was bound to happen eventually. It's not like you care anyway." She shrugged with indifference as she took her butterbeer.

"I don't care, but - "

"But what, Malfoy? We're not dating, you're not my friend. I don't even know what you are to me, but certainly not someone I talk to about my dead cat." She spun to scan the room for someone she knew.

"Potter's your friend and you didn't tell him," Malfoy pointed out.

Hermione turned back to Malfoy feeling greatly irritated by his sudden questioning mood, "If you don't drop this I'm going to make tonight far more difficult for you than I originally planned." She flicked her fingers and watched Malfoy close his eyes and slightly bend his torso forward at the device stirring on his prick. "Understand me?"

Malfoy opened his eyes, straightened his back and let out a loud breath through his nose as he nodded.

"Wonderful. Now let's find someone other than Ron and Romilda. I don't fancy watching you two bicker all evening."

* * *

Harry was deeply disturbed by Hermione's insouciance regarding Crookshanks' death. He had been all she had left from her childhood other than himself and Ron. When Harry couldn't find Ron or Romilda, he assumed they would be late or wouldn't arrive at all. Although Romilda had been a secretary at the Department of Magical Games and Sports for years, she didn't seem to care for her co-workers. Even less now that she was supremely pregnant, so he wasn't surprised at their absence.

He joined one of his fellow Aurors for a few dances and a drink before heading out to the balcony for a fag. He picked up the Muggle habit in Bosnia during his frustrating hunt. Luckily, the wizard he'd been searching for exposed himself when he reached out to family for the holidays. Harry was shocked at his stupidity but understood the sentiment. The holidays were a lonely time. Since he lived at Grimmauld Place by himself, he would be spending Christmas Eve and Day at the Burrow with the Weasleys. He wasn't looking forward to seeing Ginny with the state his face was in, but he could always use a glamour charm and lie through his teeth about the trip. Like he did when they were together.

Harry let all the smoked rush from his lungs as his thoughts longingly lingered on Ginny. He turned to face the opening patio door.

"That's a disgusting habit, Harry Potter," Hermione scolded with a wrinkled nose.

Harry ashed the stick between his fingers and shoved his other hand into his trousers front pocket. "I know, but I certainly look class."

Hermione laughed at his devilish grin and leaned against the wall next to him.

Harry glanced around the patio and through the glass door Hermione just emerged through to ensure the coast was clear before moving in for a snog. His lips pressed against hers and he pulled back when she didn't reciprocate.

A sick realisation hit him. "Oh, not Malfoy, 'Mione…" he groaned and took a drag as he leaned back against the wall.

Suddenly defensive, she spat back, "It's not your business! Maybe I just don't feel like snogging an ashtray, hmm?"

" _Is_  that why?" Harry asked eyeing her.

"Yes," she took a breath. "Maybe. I don't know. Things are… a bit odd." Harry noticed her fingers flick as if casting a spell but didn't feel or see any effects.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Harry asked knowing he wouldn't get an answer and tapped out the butt of his fag.

She looked apprehensive and after a few silent moments she responded, "I've been seeing Luna every couple of days and that's been… nice. She and Neville are still just as sweet as they were at Hogwarts." She looked out towards the view. "I'm not seeing Malfoy. Though, we did snog once. It was… also nice. I'm having fun with him, I guess. How bizarre is that?"

Harry was shocked by her candor, she hadn't been open like this since she found out her parents memories couldn't be restored. "That's good. I'm not happy it's Malfoy but he seems to be a decent enough bloke now. I'm glad you're having fun. You deserve it."

Hermione laughed cheerily, "No, he's not a decent bloke. He's still a bloody git. But we get on now, for some reason. I wouldn't even call him a friend, to be frank." She wore a secret smile that Harry couldn't decipher.

"I'll give you another gift on top of my surprise appearance, since you're not going to be shagging me tonight. I won't tell Ron about whatever is going on with Malfoy and I won't ask you about it. If you want to talk about it, you can just tell me." He kissed her cheek and squeezed her hand. "I love you, 'Mione and I want you to have a good time. I'm glad he gives that to you."

"Thanks, Harry. I love you too." She sighed and pushed away from the wall. "I should find my date though. Something tells me he might want to speak with me."

Harry watched her leave and was gobsmacked at the attitude his best friend had adopted. She still wasn't compassionate or warm as she had been in Hogwarts but she wasn't as ice cold as she had been during their adult years. Whatever Malfoy was doing he just hoped it didn't stop. Maybe he'd get to see his Hermione again one day.

* * *

Draco was standing in a group listening to the head of Magical Games and Sports ramble on about the Appleby Arrows' chance at making it to the World Cup when he suddenly felt a warm sensation envelop his cock.

He politely excused himself, downed the rest of his drink and placed it on a random table in his mad dash to the loo. The warm feeling was soon accompanied by a slick and rhythmic tugging and he felt himself grow taut between his legs.

He burst into the toilets, startling two men standing at the urinals. He muttered an apology and locked himself in a stall. Casting a  _Muffliato_ charm just in time as a quiet moan escaped through his lips. It now felt like he was being vigorously sucked off by the most enthusiastic professional scrubber. He slouched against the wall of the stall as his breathing picked up, feeling his bollocks tighten.

The image of Granger in her little green dress bent over her sofa for him burst into his mind and he fumbled with his zipper to grab the hilt of his cock as the device worked the shaft. Sweat broke out over his forehead and the muscles between his shoulder blades contracted. His hips bucked at he remembered her grinding herself on top of him. He imagined it was her dark red lips wrapped around his prick and with that he found his aching release. Chest heaving, he looked down at the device that was strangling his softening package. He was able to pull it back over his bellend to empty his mess into the toilet, S _courgified_ it clean and fumbled it back into its original position. Something told him Granger wouldn't be happy with him ending the game just because he finished.

Wiping the sweat from his face, he left the stall, washed his hands and splashed some cold water on his face to ease the pink hue on his cheeks.

Draco opened the door and saw a very smug looking Granger sitting on a seat a few meters away with one leg crossed over the other. Even the hint of her thighs was enough to cause his cock to stir again. He definitely wasn't done with her tonight. He walked over to her, unsure of what to say.

She continued to smile wickedly up at him and he mentally wrestled with the image of her lipstick smeared all over her face from sucking him off.

"Well?"

Draco coughed and looked around to see if there were any nearby evesdroppers. "Yeah, uh. Nice toy. It's… uh…" He felt self-conscious at his abnormally inarticulate state. Apparently, not enough blood had made its way back to his brain. But based on the delight in Granger's eyes, she was loving it.

Granger snickered, waved her fingers to stop the device and held out her hand, "Dance with me."

He took her hand, she stood and walked side by side to the small dance floor. He couldn't smell her normal warm coffee aroma and huffed the new, unpleasant scent through his nostrils. "You smoke?"

"No. Harry does now, apparently. Do I smell?"

"Yes, it's quite foul. I prefer your normal scent," he remarked, bringing her into an easy embrace on the small dance floor and began to sway them in time with the music.

"What do I normally smell like?" she enquired, keeping up with his feet perfectly.

He shrugged, hoping to give the appearance of indifference, "You smell like a café, shockingly. Like coffee and earl grey tea... It's nice." He quickly added.

"Huh, no one has mentioned that. I guess I've been living there long enough I stopped noticing the smell." They continued to dance in silence as the song changed, when she broke it with a simple question. "What are you doing for Christmas?"

"I'm meeting my Mother for breakfast at whatever restaurant is open, then I'll probably go to Theo's to get pissed. His father is still in Azkaban and his mother died when he was a kid, so it's been his tradition since we graduated. What about you?"

"I don't know yet. I might see what Luna and Neville have planned."

"You're not going to the Weasley breeding hole?" Draco sneered.

Granger chuckled, "You mean the Burrow? I might stop by just to see Ron's kid. Since Ron and I didn't get together Molly doesn't treat me the same. I suppose after I rejected Ron she took it as a personal offense. And Ginny and I didn't really keep in touch after she broke up with Harry."

Draco scoffed, "Typical pure-blood bullshit. Blaise Zabini's mother did the same thing to Pansy when she rejected him. Families are shit."

"I suppose. My parents were lovely. Nothing like the Weasleys, really," Hermione shrugged.

"Hmm," He replied indifferently. If she wanted to talk about her parents, she could but he didn't want to ask about it. Something about this time of the year made people miss their families. Draco figured though, that Granger would just get mad if he pressed her about it and after his stint in the bathroom he didn't want to chance screwing up getting shagged tonight.

"Thank you," she whispered and laid her cheek on his lapel.

He squeezed her hand in recognition and tightened his hold on her waist.

"Mind if I cut in?"

Draco inaudibly sighed at Potter's terrible timing but released Granger, "Fine by me. I need another drink anyway."

* * *

Hours later, Hermione Flooed to her flat, expecting Malfoy to follow behind shortly. She wasn't finished with the game just yet. In fact, she had been much kinder to him by letting him finish.

She immediately walked to her coat stand and hung up her cloak. With a familiar roar from the Floo she saw Malfoy emerge, taking off his own jacket and loosening his bow tie.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked mock incredulously.

"Making myself at home since you were too rude to offer. Where's your booze?" He threw his coat and bow tie down over her sofa and started rolling his sleeves up to his elbows.

"Kitchen, above the refrigerator," she called as she kicked off her pumps. "I'm going to change and before you ask, no that's not an invitation. I'll have one too, thank you."

Now with Malfoy in her flat, Hermione felt less queasy about hard liquor and instead felt it necessary to calm her nerves. In her bedroom, she slipped out of her dress and into a pair of tartan lounge pants and a fitted black t-shirt. She wiped off her lipstick and threw her hair into a high pony.

He was observing the art next to her bookshelves in the living room, both hands full of glasses with clear liquid in them.

"Rembrandt?" he asked handing her a glass as he ran his eyes over her breasts.

"Yes, it's a copy of  _Bathsheba at Her Bath_ ," she affirmed and took a sip from the cup as she felt a surge of heat between her thighs.

"It's beautiful, but you seem to have a lot of morose paintings here. I thought you'd have more classical paintings of cats," Malfoy taunted.

"What, like Umbridge?" she laughed.

"Yes, but less evil and more classy," he winked and took a swig of his drink. He dropped his long body in a lazy sitting position on her sofa. His muscled arm arched over the back of the sofa, and pointed to the cushion next to him in invitation.

Hermione smiled to herself and took the seat, feeling her heart flutter faster.

"Can I take that gadget off now? It's becoming uncomfortable," Malfoy grimaced and adjusted the crotch of his trousers for added effect.

Hermione laughed warmly, "I thought you would have removed it after you finished. Why would you leave it on, you dunce!" She started laughing harder at his genuine scowl.

"I didn't want to get in trouble with you," he reached into the front of his trousers and produced the little silicone sleeve before tossing it on her coffee table.

She was unable to catch her breath at the thought of Malfoy walking around that party for hours with the device just hanging onto him for no purpose.

He took a sip of his drink and despite himself started laughing at her laughter.

Soon, the two of them were on her couch, howling at Malfoy's expense. To Hermione's surprise, he didn't seem pissy about that fact at all. She finally calmed down and finished off her drink. "I didn't think you were one to laugh at yourself."

Malfoy wiped the corner of his eye, "I wasn't laughing at myself, I was laughing at the face you were making. You scrunch your nose a lot when you laugh. I've never noticed that before."

He leaned down and kissed her nose before slowly moving to her lips. When she reciprocated, he turned his body in haste to be on top of hers. She grabbed the back of his neck and ran her finger nails up into his hair. He quietly groaned and pushed her back so she was laying on her back and he was laying between her legs.

She wanted so badly to wrap her legs around his waist and grind into him, but didn't want to give him to satisfaction of two orgasms in one night. Hell, it was more than she got from him. Instead, she grabbed his hair and pulled hard without letting her mouth leave his. He moaned into her mouth and she responded in the same. She could feel she was already drenched between her legs.

Feeling her lust take over, she frantically started unbuttoning his shirt and pushed it down to his elbows. He tugged her top over her head, leaving her in only her simple dark blue bra and lounge pants. Hermione threw her arms under his to feel the strong ripples of muscles on his back. She ran her hands up to his spine then stopped abruptly. She felt a long angry scab that trailed from the middle of his back to the bottom of his shoulder blade.

Malfoy winced and pulled away. She stared into the suddenly emotionless grey eyes piercing her. She looked over his shoulder and saw seven or eight more scattered all over his back that matched the one she felt. She didn't say anything as she moved her hands to his cheeks and pulled him back in for a kiss.

She hoped the kiss expressed what she was thinking which was,  _I don't care why you haven't healed them or what they are for, just don't stop._

It seemed he understood because he moved from her mouth to her neck and shoulders, sucking the skin as he went. He groped her breasts with his large hands gently before pulling her bra down, exposing more of her skin. He took her left nipple between his lips and sucked. She inhaled sharply and grabbed his hair. He pulled it with his teeth and ran his tongue over her right nipple.

"Let me make our first outing up to you," he requested roughly.

She nodded her head, unsure if at this point she'd be able to decline him if he proposed sex.

His mouth trailed down her stomach, planting languid kisses as he went. He abruptly pulled down her pants and threw them to the floor, exposing her without any knickers on. He breathed heavily and kissed up her thighs as she spread her legs.

Malfoy delicately licked up her slit ending at her clit and teased, "Merlin, Granger. You taste as good as you normally smell." He grabbed both of her hips and greedily pulled her lower half towards him.

Hermione threw her head back with a loud sigh as his tongue flicked against her clit. He continued working his tongue over her and brought one hand between her legs and stroked her opening.

"Yes! Yes, yes, please," she begged enthusiastically.

He groaned and thrust two fingers into her wet slit. He started slow but was soon slamming his fingers in and out of her with a slight "come hither" motion. Remarkably, his tongue was keeping up with the rapid pace.

Grabbing the sofa for support, she could feel herself beginning her climax. She cried loudly for him not to stop which caused him to growl into her and the sound drove her mad. Hermione grabbed his hair with her hands and her thighs squeezed around his face as she powerfully came over his mouth and hand.

Malfoy rapaciously lapped up her aftermath and moved his way up her body to kiss her deeply. She didn't mind being able to taste herself on his mouth. Thanks to Hannah, she kept up her health everywhere to ensure her lovers had an enjoyable time between her legs.

Hermione was soon snogging him with equal vigor from before he went down on her. Remembering her plan, she pulled back and smoothed his hair, "Thank you. You're very good at that."

With a boyish grin, he replied, "Like I said, Granger. I'm a fussy slag. I had good teachers." He returned to her mouth, with hunger.

She could feel his intentions from his mouth and pressed against her thigh. She slid up from under him and pulled her loungewear back on, "I'll accept that as compensation for your outrageous behaviour from our first outing. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get to bed." She gestured to the Floo.

Malfoy sat back on his haunches, looking shocked. Then a smirk worked its way on his face in recognition of what she was doing. He flipped his shirt back over his shoulders and started to button it up as he walked over to his discarded jacket and tie. He slung them over a bent arm and kissed her cheek, "Well played, Granger."

Malfoy stepped into the Floo and she quoted him, "I'll owl you."

He winked, then disappeared.

* * *

Once he was alone in his own flat, Draco let his cool exterior drop. He threw down his jacket and tie and unzipped his trousers. He grabbed his painfully swollen cock and furiously began pleasuring himself. Leaning against his Floo mantle, he licked his lips, recalling Granger's flavour. A groan dripped from his lips.

He remembered her longing cries and fantasized she was calling his given name. Barely able to contain his passion, he let his head loll back, knowing his release was imminent. He imagined thrusting into her while she was naked on her sofa. He imagined the sounds she would make. He imagined how her tight body would feel in his hands as he wrenched her hips upward to penetrate her deeply.

That finished him off. He dropped his softening cock and continued to lean against the mantle for support. Draco pulled his wand from this jacket and cleaned himself and the surrounding area before dropping heavily onto his sofa. He slept there as Granger's scent still penetrated his nostrils.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: After some serious rereading and editting, I've** **combined** **most of the chapters. You don't seem to mind the long length so it looks like there will be thirteen chapters total. Which means our time will come to an end by Saturday. In the meanwhile, let me know if you want any spin offs. I've been busy with school and a new job so I haven't had time to get started but if, say for instance, you want a Theo/Neville spin off - I got you. I can do it!**

**Disclaimer:**  Hi, my name is Keeks. I'm not J.K Rowling. I don't own this. I'm merely renting it for the purposes of free smut.

* * *

CHAPTER NINE

Hermione had no intentions of owling Malfoy until at least the New Year. Though her hormones were screaming at her to go over and shag him senseless. She knew if she kept the power she would win this game and that would make the sex far better. She still didn't trust his motives, but  _Merlin_  was she okay with feeling good in the meanwhile. Her whole body flushed as she remembered his head between her legs.

Pushing it from her mind, she pulled herself from bed. It was Christmas morning and she had a busy day of visiting ahead of her. First, she had to make a stop at the Burrow. It was seven so she would give them half an hour before heading over. Surely, Freddy had woken everyone up to open gifts at this point.

While in the shower, she gave herself an orgasm, remembering her night with Malfoy.  _Merlin_ , who knew his mouth was good for more than spitting insults and sneering. She remembered his back and the look he gave her. At this point, she knew when Malfoy shut down any emotion in his face, it was a warning. She didn't question the cuts because they were his business. Although, it was odd he hadn't healed them. He must know some healing spells from their time in the War. The situation had demanded it of them all. He hadn't brought it up with her for a reason, so she had no reason to enquire.

She cast a drying spell on her hair and ran Sleekeazy's through it. She rolled her eyes at the memory of her younger self feeling like this was too much of a bother. Before getting her toast, she swiped on mascara and pulled on a white cable knit jumper and dark blue jeans.

The Burrow was full-on chaos. Freddy was running around the kitchen, Molly was chewing out George, Harry was tossing a Muggle football across the living room with Ron and Romilda was yelling for Freddy to stay out of Nana's way.

"'Mione!" Ron caught the ball and embraced her. "Happy Christmas! I'm glad you came." He kissed her temple and called for Freddy.

"Hi Ron, Hi Harry," she kissed Harry and briefly embraced him. "Hi, Freddy. Are you behaving for Mummy and Daddy?"

Freddy smiled coyly and said, "No!" before he ran away.

"That's his new word," an exasperated and exhausted Romilda explained from behind Hermione. "Hello, Hermione. Happy Christmas."

Hermione made her rounds and wished everyone a happy Christmas before getting a cup of tea from a stiff lipped Molly.

"Don't mind her, she's got her knickers in a twist because I won't put on her awful jumper," George teased after Molly left the dining. He took a seat next to her.

"I don't think that's why, but thanks. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas. Not in the festive mood?"

Hermione grimaced, "About as much as you are. I'm actually going to slip out, I have plans with some other people."

"Better make it an Irish exit," George warned, "or else you'll never make it out of here."

"Good call." She swallowed the last of her tea. "Best of luck today. I… I know how it can be."

George grabbed Hermione's hand and squeezed it. He gave her a tight lipped smiled.

With that, Hermione Apparated to Luna and Neville's home.

* * *

Neville knew he made the mistake of not going for a run before Christmas when he woke up that morning. He lifted his face from his pillow to see the left side of the bed empty. Luna was probably already up making some breakfast before Hermione met them at St. Mungo's. Neville pushed his face back into his pillow, not wanting to face today. It would be difficult, that was certain. What was worse, he wasn't worried about visiting his parents, but he was worried about how he would deal with the guilt afterwards. He always left his parents' hospital room feeling guilty that he hadn't found a way to help them.

His runs were detrimental to his health and would probably cause him to need a wheelchair prematurely in life if he continued at the rate he had been going at before Theo started tagging along. He had picked up the habit when he worked at Hogwarts right after the War. Looking down corridors, sitting and eating in the Great Hall, on his walk down to the greenhouses, he saw his dead friends and classmates everywhere. One day he missed teaching a class because instead of walking to the greenhouses, he ran right past them and ended up kilometres away at the Shrieking Shack. When he pulled off his shoes at the Shack he saw his feet were raw and bleeding and he felt emotional relief. Since then, he'd made it a habit of running until his feet bled when he felt guilty. Which, these days was most of the time, but he couldn't keep his promise to Theo and run to feel better.

Theo was why Neville felt guilty that particular morning. Neville loved Luna, he did! But since the night of Malfoy Industries' Yule ball, he hadn't been able to shag her. It was mortifying. The guilt had never affected his manhood before and now Luna was paying the price. She had been so understanding and kind, but he knew it was an issue he had to rectify.

Images of Theo laughing and pressing his body against his own danced through his mind. He remembered Theo's breath tickling his neck and chin. Neville's body reacted between his legs and he instinctively rolled his hips into the bed. He quietly groaned into his pillow as he ground down harder. Flipping onto his back, Neville reached under the sheets and started stroking himself vigorously, desperately wanting a release. He thought about what Theo's naked chest would feel like against his own. What Theo would taste like. How Theo's mouth would feel sucking on his cock. Focusing on the last thought he bit his bottom lip to catch the moan threatening to alert Luna. Feeling his release on the edge, he quietly ran from their bedroom, across the hall to their bathroom. He thought about what sounds Theo might make when he touched himself. Neville let out a loud breath as he came over the bathtub, bracing himself with a flat palm on the opposing tiled wall.

He turned on the shower to wash away the evidence of his desired infidelity and called out the door, "Luna, Love, I'm just going to shower. Then are you ready to head out?"

"Yes, that's not a problem. I'll get dressed now," she called back.

In the shower he couldn't hold back his guilty tears. He loved Luna, damn it. He didn't want to hurt her. This infatuation with Theo would pass. It had to. The only good thing that came from this situation was Neville was too much a cowardly lion to see Theo to go for a run.

* * *

Hermione met Luna and Neville outside Frank and Alice Longbottom's room in Janus Thickey Ward for Irrevocable Spell Damage at St. Mungo's Hospital. She wasn't prepared for whatever outpouring of emotion there may be but it would be better than being shunned by Molly at the Burrow.

"Hello, Neville. Luna. Happy Christmas," Hermione embraced both of her friends.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione. You don't appear to have any Nargles on you, you must've cleaned that sprig of mistletoe in your flat," Luna remarked dreamily.

Neville already departed into his parent's room.

"Oh, should we…?" Hermione pointed at the door but Luna just shook her head.

"He prefers to see them alone. Strangers frighten them and most days they don't recognize him. He said after he went through puberty and visited them, his mother screamed for days." Luna replied serenely.

"That must've been difficult for him," Hermione awkwardly remarked.

"He's stronger than he gives himself credit for. Emotions don't make people weak, funny how that's often confused, isn't it? Look how Harry won the War, with the love of his friends." Luna stared at Hermione and she felt very naked in front of those blue eyes.

"Yes, I, uh, suppose you're right." Hermione sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs lining the room.

"What do you think of Theo?" Luna asked abruptly.

"Theo? Nothing much, I haven't really spoken with him for longer than a few moments. He seems much different from when he was in Hogwarts though, he was very quiet, right?"

"Yes. He's very funny and boisterous now. He's been a good friend to Neville over the last few months especially and I'm happy to see they're getting to know each other better," Luna replied.

"Oh, I didn't know they also saw each other outside of work. I thought he only did that with Dr- Malfoy," Hermione quickly corrected herself, horrified at her mistake.  _When did he become Draco? He's always been Malfoy. It's just because I'm talking to Luna and she calls him_ that _. Just a harmless slip up,_ Hermione lied to herself.

"They don't see each other outside work often, but he's offered to be there for Neville." She paused to think. "It's good to have multiple perspectives on a problem."

"I agree, it's a much better way to have a thoroughly thought out solution." Hermione's response seemed to send Luna into a thoughtful daze. The brunette woman closed her eyes and enjoyed the silence. She tried not to think about Neville trying to talk with his parents in the room behind her. She tried not to think about what her parents might be doing right now… She tried to ignore the ache in her heart and thick throat by thinking of new legislations for S.P.E.W.

An hour of silence had passed when Neville came out of the room. Eyes rimmed red and a folio of loose parchment clutched in his hand. Luna stood immediately and hugged him around the neck. He wrapped her arms around her waist and buried his face into her hair. The display made Hermione squirm uncomfortably.

Neville straightened and sniffed, "Alright, Hermione?"

"Yeah. You?"

He nodded.

"Are you ready to Apparate to Daddy's house for dinner?" Luna asked the group.

Both nodded and they all Apparated to Xenophilius Lovegood's home.

* * *

"Luna! My Love! Neville! I'm so happy to see you! Happy Christmas, come, come, come in!" Xenophilius called he rushed them in. His face paled at the sight of Hermione. "Ms Granger…" His voice faltered.

Hermione summoned a smile, "Mr Lovegood. It's lovely to see you. I hope you don't mind me joining you, Luna invited me a few days ago."

"No, of course not. You're more than welcome in this home, please come in," He held the door open and waved her in.

Hermione dropped her voice as she entered, so only he would hear. "I hope you know, Sir, that I do not hold any offense for your actions during the War. We all did what we felt was necessary for those we love."

The Lovegood patriarch's face visibly relaxed at her forgiveness and he grasped her hand, "War is a curious thing, isn't it, Ms Granger?"

"Indeed it is, Sir." Hermione squeezed his hand then shrugged out of her cloak. "And please, call me Hermione."

"Only if you call me, Xeno. My name is a rather mouthful and after a few brandys you'll be tripping over your tongue for minutes at a time," Xeno smiled warmly down at her.

The night passed pleasantly with many brandys and a delicious, avian type dinner. The four of them were seated in comfortable yellow chairs, rosy cheeked and full of laughter. Xenophilius regaled them with tales from his childhood and anecdotes about creatures Hermione wasn't fully sure existed. At ten in the evening Hermione excused herself to head home. She thanked her host and her two friends.

Back in her flat, she felt herself smiling at nothing in particular. An evening with the Lovegoods proved to be the best way she could have spent the holiday. She happily sighed and made her way to her bedroom to change into pyjamas when she heard two pops of Apparation behind her in her living room.

" _Granger!"_  a man drunkenly yelled.

Wand already in hand, ready to jinx, Hermione whipped around to see Theo absolutely tossed and Malfoy struggling with him, violently whispering threats. "What the fuck are you two doing here?! How did he get here without splinching himself?!"

"Your guess is as good as mine! Help me get him down before he tries to go somewhere else!" Malfoy called over Theo's hollering, which Hermione just tuned into.

" _Why won't you shag Drake? He's a right good bloke, look at him, he's taking care of me because he looooves me."_ Theo cackled at his own observation, "Maybe yer more of a poof than I am, mate!"

"Alright," Malfoy agreed, clearly exhausted by Theo.

"But, but, Granger. Yer so feckin' pretty, does he tell ye that? And yer not all hoity toity now. So nice." With that Theo's head slumped forward and he fell asleep in Malfoy's struggling arms.

"Can I put him somewhere, please?" Malfoy snapped at Hermione who was just standing and watching the scene play out.

"Put him in this room, it's a spare. He can sleep it off here." She opened the door on the other side of her bedroom door.

Hermione went into her room to change into a long nightgown and the silk green dressing gown she had splurged on last year. She quieted when she could hear two muffled men's voices through the wall. One's volume constantly fluctuation and the other a low constant, reassuring tone.

She entered the living room at the same time as Malfoy closing the door to the spare room. "Thank you." Malfoy muttered.

With an amused smile she flopped down on her sofa, "So, how was your Christmas?"

* * *

" _Draco, help me! Stop her!"_

_Hermione's screams were so loud, he clapped his hands over his ears._

" _Draco!"_

_He looked up to see Hermione on her back floating in the air with all her limbs limp. Her throat was slit wide open, ear to ear. Her face was covered in her own blood except her wide shocked eyes that wouldn't close and wouldn't look away from him._

_He reached out to touch her hand. It was ice cold._

_She suddenly grabbed his wrist and she hissed in Voldemort's voice, "You deserve this!"_

_He looked down to see the a silver dagger with an intricate serpentine handle in his hands._

_It and his hands were covered in her blood_.

Draco woke and vomited over the edge of his bed. He spat on his floor and wiped away the sweat and tears on his face. He looked over at the drawer that contained the dagger, vomited again and fainted.

The sun was streaking through his bedroom window. He wrinkled his nose at the acrid smell lingering in his room. Pressing himself up he saw his mess from last night and cringed.

It was Christmas morning so he wouldn't call a House Elf away from their festivities. He cleaned it himself with magic and absently thought about the night Granger discovered his mutilated back. He had healed his visible scabs but had completely forgotten about his back, obviously too keen on the prospect of seeing Granger naked. She didn't question him, only looked at them and kissed him in a way that still made his cock rouse slightly.

Once he finished, he made his way to the shower. Stepping in, he reflected on how last night's nightmare was even possible. He had taken a Draught of Dreamless Sleep. In fact, he was taking it most nights now, due to the increased amount of time he spent with and thinking about Granger.

The mirror showed a ghost of Draco. His eyes were sunken in, his lips were cracked and his skin was sallow. So, he may have developed a bit of a dependency on the potion, yet again. Right after the War, Draco was taking a draught every night on top of binge drinking most nights with Pansy. The detox was nasty business that he didn't want to repeat which meant he'd have to avoid taking anymore sleep potions and hopefully would find a way to deal with the nightmares. Or he would have to stop seeing Granger.

The last option put a pit in his stomach. Even though his dreams were torturing him, he didn't want to let go of her. She matched him in wit, intellect, and best of all, sexual games. Her cold and dark attitude was fun and didn't constantly remind him of his school days with her. He didn't see himself being able to forget about her at this point.

Draco drank a potion of revilitization and used a glamour charm just to make sure he didn't scare his mother out of her wits.

He dressed in a light grey two piece suit and Apparated to a restaurant in Paris that his mother had picked.

* * *

"Happy Christmas, Love!" His mother reached out to embrace him from her seat at their reserved table.

"Hello, Mother. Happy Christmas," he awkwardly crouched to accommodate her and kissed her cheek. "How have you been?" He took the seat opposite her.

"Oh, fine. I'm having a party tonight at the Manor and I wish you would come," she whined from behind her menu.

He harshly sighed, "Don't start this. I didn't sleep well last night." Draco's sleep deprived brain was having a hard time keeping up with reading the french menu. " _Un cappuccino sec, s'il vous plaît. Merci."_

Narcissa huffed, "Fine. I thought I should mention, I've invited Andromeda and she has confirmed she will be attending."

Draco nearly choked on his water, "Andromeda? Andromeda Tonks? Why would you invite her?"

"I've missed her for a long time, it's been very difficult since your father passed and you're so busy. Sisters are meant to be close and I picked poorly by siding with Bella, that much is obvious now. Call it the sentiment of an old woman, but I'm lonely and so is Andromeda. We may as well be lonely together."

He didn't know how to respond. He had never known his mother to be this honest about her emotions, it made him incredibly uncomfortable and he craned his neck, grateful to see the waitress returning with his coffee.

"What are you doing today?" Narcissa enquired when he didn't respond.

"I'm going over to Theo's house."

"Ah yes, this holiday can't be easy for him," Narcissa sighed. When the waitress returned with Draco's cappuccino she ordered a fruit salad, a coddled egg and a slice of toast.

" _Je vais avoir un 'Anglais Complet', merci._ "

The waitress wrinkled her nose slightly and Narcissa seemed to agree. "Really? We're at a very high end establishment and you get a full english?" She was clearly exasperated and a little embarrassed.

Draco took a sip of his coffee and shrugged, "I'm getting sloshed with Theo and I need a full stomach."

"Oh,  _really,_  Draco. Do you think that's what Teddy needs today?" she scolded her son.

"Why don't you go over and tell him that yourself, Mother? I'm sure he misses having a mother to scold his every decision. Speaking of which," he pulled a small box from his breast pocket, "I hope you like it."

It was a brooch of the Malfoy family crest. Narcissa smiled widely. "Yes, I love it. Thank you. This is yours." She handed him a small envelope.

He opened it and furrowed his brows, "I'm not sure what this is."

"It's the deed to a cottage your father bought us when we were first married. It's off the west coast of Ireland in a small village called Keel. I think you'd enjoy it. I know… I can tell you've been struggling as of recently and it might help to get away." She reached across the table and covered his hand, "No matter how old you get, I'll always worry about you and I'll always love you. Even if you make awful fashion choices like wearing stubble." She scoffed.

He chuckled and patted her hand. "Thank you, Mother. I'll have you know, the ladies like the rugged look."

"Like that Granger girl?" Narcissa challenged as the waitress set down their food, feeling the sudden tension at the table.

"What of it?" he kept his eyes on his food and dug in.

"Just… Be careful, Draco. I worry the history between her and our family may run too deep."

Draco sighed and speared a sausage, "So do I."

* * *

Draco stepped through Theo's front door after Apparating from Paris and heard a loud crash. "What the fuck? Theo? Are you alright?" He sped through the expansive Nott Manor in attempt to find the source of the sound.

After checking multiple empty rooms, a few studies and a broken down bedroom, Draco finally found Theo strewn across a broken coffee table in what appeared to be a storage room.

"Drake!" Theo yelled seeming blissfully ignorant of the situation. "Happy Chrissmus!"

"Hey Teddy," Draco replied gently, looking around the room for any indication that Theo may have tried to hurt himself. "How's it? Why did you break that table?"

Theo struggled against Draco's help to pull him up. "I hate this feckin' table. My father liked it." He tried to kick it but ended up stumbling further into Draco's arms.

"Okay. That's good, then. Why did you start so early? It's only one in the afternoon, mate."

"Pfffft! Ye got dr-day drunk with Granger. I can too!" Draco embraced Theo tightly and Apparated upstairs to Theo's bedroom and tossed him on the bed. At 192 centimetres, Theo only stood 7 centimetres taller than Draco but was four stone heavier than him, so by the time Theo was snoring on his bed, Draco had worked up a sweat.

As Draco jogged downstairs, he took off his jacket and rolled his sleeves to his elbows to cool down. He drank a cup of water before cooking Theo a breakfast similar to what he had in Paris. Along with a litre of cold water, Draco left the steaming dish on Theo's bedside table and cast a warming charm on the plate. He made himself comfortable in the expanse library just down the hall from his tossed friend.

After a few hours of researching potions and potential ingredients that would work well with Ayahuasca and still coming up short, he heard Theo stir.

Draco kicked open the bedroom door and crossed his arms across his chest, "Well, well, well. Good morning. How are we feeling?"

Theo groaned and held his head, "Like a spiked tea, if ye would be so kind."

Gesturing to the plate next to him, "Eat that first, then you'll get your fix, you boozehound."

Theo had finished the water and food before Draco returned with two steaming mugs of spiked English breakfast tea.

Theo took a mug and made a toast, "To that git, Draco Malfoy. For always looking out for his tosser of a mate. Thanks, brother."

"Yeah, you owe me. Again," he muttered and rolled his eyes.

They both drank deeply from their mugs, scalding their mouths and throats but felt the pleasant buzz from the brandy.

Theo led Draco to the kitchen and rubbed his hands together vigorously. "So what's for supper? I was thinking Irish Car Bombs and hell, why not some Jägermeister to sooth our bellies?"

Draco shrugged, "Works for me. But you can make them."

The two men passed the holiday by drinking, talking and getting fed by Theo's House Elves. At one point, Theo tackled Draco and a good-hearted drunken brawl broke out. They were both good and tossed before the atmosphere turned.

"So what kinda shag is Granger? She looks like she'd be filthy," Theo grinned a toothy smile.

"Donno. She won't shag me. Can't say I didn't bring it on myself though. I am a prick," Draco laughed at his remark and at Theo who howled at the proclamation.

"Ah, that's shite, mate. That's no good… We should go over there and convince her otherwise, yeh?" Theo stood to stumble towards the Floo, somehow significantly drunker than Draco.

"Whoa, whoa, no," he braced against his friend's chest and pushed him back into his chair. "I think that would definitely hurt my chances. You still on Neville?"

"Pffft, I'm not on anyone. My cock hasn't even been looked at by someone else in months. I'm tellin' ye, it must be the universe's cruel prank on me put make me fall in love with a straight man. Trelawny shoulda warned me." Theo thunked his forehand forward onto the dining table they were sitting around.

"You're  _in love_ with Neville?" Draco asked incredulously.

"What? Oh, I don't know. Probably not. All I know is I wanna suck his cock clean off his body but he's with a feckin' woman. A bloody good one, at that." Theo groaned remorsefully.

"You haven't talked to him about it?"

Theo scoffed. "What do I look like, a sodding Hufflepuff? No. I haven't. But, I think it's time  _ye_  started that, yeh?" Theo's eyes widened with mischief before he Apparated right out of his seat.

Draco stared at the empty spot before standing in a rage, "FUCK." Theo would be lucky if he didn't splinch himself. He Apparated to the first place that shitdisturber would go.

Granger's flat.

* * *

"And that brings us to now." Draco brought her up to speed about his day, excluding the part about Theo and Neville. It wasn't his business to tell. He made himself comfortable next to Granger while he was telling his story. "How was your Christmas?" He asked, laying back so his shoulders were rested against the arm of the sofa.

"It was actually lovely. I was at the Burrow for only half an hour, I went with Luna and Neville to St. Mungo's while he visited his parents," she saw Malfoy sit straight up. "What?"

"Did he bring anything to them?" Malfoy asked in a low voice.

"No. Well, only a folio of parchment. Why?" Hermione asked, starting to feel anxiety creep through her belly. She sat at the bend in her sofa at Malfoy's feet.

Malfoy laid back and rubbed his face while he let out a long breath, "Nothing. It's fine."

Hermione just stared at him, not willing to let the subject go. If there was something nefarious happening and someone as sweet as Neville was involved, she wanted to know.

Malfoy stared back then rolled his eyes when he realised she wouldn't repent. "Has he told you about the project he and I are working on?"

"No."

"Part of my self imposed penance for what I did during the War was to hire Neville and work on potions to help the survivors. It's been very lucrative, like I said. We developed potions to stop panic instantly, to reinvigorate appetites, stronger dreamless draughts, the list goes on. All thanks to Neville. But all of it meant nothing to him. He only agreed to take the job if, I personally, aided him in creating a potion to cure his parents or at least give them the ability to communicate with him and their healers."

Hermione was shocked, "But… Why you?"

Malfoy scowled at her, "For your information, Granger, I had top marks in Potions class, behind you."

"Yes, but I thought that was just because Snape favoured Slytherins," Hermione admitted.

"Well he did, but no. I'm a very adept at potions. Hence why Malfoy Industries' biggest sector is now potions," he sneered

Shame slapped her across the cheek and she was surprised at the sensation. She didn't think it would possible for her to feel ashamed in regards to Malfoy. Especially when it came to underestimating him. "Okay. Is that why you two see each other so much outside of work?"

"Yes. We research outside of work hours because we're both busy as it is. There's no time to research a personal project during the day." Malfoy explained.

"Wait, why are you telling me this? Aren't you worried I'll tell a competing potions company?"

Malfoy shrugged, "Go for it. It'll just get more hands on an impossible project. I'm not worried about money or public reception. I just want to help Neville."

Hermione leaned back between his legs and laid her head in the crook of his shoulder and chest, "That's oddly admirable of you, Malfoy. Who would've thought you had a heart of gold?" She teased, patting his chest.

He grabbed her hand and kept it on is chest while he grinned lazily with closed eyes, "Alright, well don't go telling people  _that_. Now, shut up, my head is killing me. I need to sleep a bit before I can Apparate again."

"Tosser," she muttered as her eyes fluttered shut. The rhythmic beating of his heart lulled her into a deep sleep.

For the first time in months, Draco slept soundly the entire night through without a draught of Dreamless Sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Let me know what you think! Because your feedback makes me a better writer and more effective at giving you the angsty smut, y'know what I'm sayin'? Speaking of which, *rubs hands together like the filthy smut goblin I am*, this is my** **favourite** **chapter.** **Bon appétit, mes amis!**

 **Disclaimer:** Welcome back to  _I'm Embarrassed to Tell My Parents What I Do In My Spare Time_ where this week, we talk to Keeks and her journey to write royalty free sex stories, without the owner, J.K Rowling, giving her permission.

* * *

CHAPTER TEN

 

"Aw, isn't this a sweet sight? Two celibate teenagers curled up on the couch together," Theo laughed loudly around a mouthful of cereal.

Draco slowly woke at Theo's loud voice. His head was killing him and his stomach felt sick from yesterday's binge. He winced at his stiff neck from the sofa and took in his surroundings. He was on Granger's sofa, spooning her. He tried to ignore her bum pressed against his crotch, very aware of the effect mornings had on him. "Merlin, Theo, keep it down. How are you this chipper after yesterday?" He rubbed his eyes and rolled off the couch, rousing Granger.

"I've got a strong Irish constitution! Oi, Granger, do ye have any other food? That should help Drakey feel better," Theo teased. Draco launched a pillow at him and rolled his neck.

"Yeah, I have bread in the cupboard, and eggs and bacon in the refrigerator. But you're cooking it, I'm not your mother. You two already boarded here for free." Granger yawned, standing to stretch.

Theo prepared the trio egg and bacon sandwiches, while Draco made tea and Granger read  _The Quibbler_  at the dining table. The two men sat themselves and the breakfast feast down at the table before Draco snorted at Granger, "Why are you reading that wash? Didn't you go on record saying  _The Quibbler_ was rubbish?"

Granger put down the edition and picked up her sandwich, "Yes and I also told Harry there was no way you were a Death Eater. I've been wrong before."

Theo howled with laughter and punched Draco's bicep. Amused by her dark humour, Draco mockingly glared at her before digging into his own sandwich. She sent a small smile back at him.

After breakfast was finished, they sat around the table in sleepy contentment before Granger broke it.

"What are you lot doing for New Years?"

Theo belched and replied, "Pansy's invited us over for a dry celebration. The way she sees it, it's a fair way to balance out our wet Christmas tradition. What about ye?"

"I'm leaving for Greece on the 28th. I don't plan on celebrating but it's my tradition to get out of London for New Years." She answered vaguely.

Draco felt the pang of resentment for not knowing her plans to leave, but painted a face of indifference. "Why don't you celebrate New Years? It's odd you don't do that but you celebrate Christmas."

Granger's eyes flicked from his to Theo's and shrugged, "I actually don't normally celebrate Christmas, I just felt like it this year. As for New Years, I don't like it. It's an arbitrary thing to celebrate." Her tone effectively shut down any further enquiries. "Are you bringing Neville and Luna?"

"I expect Pansy's already invited them. She'll be happy to have a skilled dance partner," snorted Theo. "Ye should come, Granger. Postpone your trip to when it's warmer and actually makes sense to go to Greece."

Granger shook her head, "No. My portkey is non-refundable. We can get together when I'm back."

Theo sighed and stood, "Suit yourself. Thanks for the bed and breakfast, Granger. Ready to go, Drake?"

Draco nodded numbly and waved a farewell to Granger.

It wasn't until he was on his broom at the Quidditch pitch that he realized he hadn't had a nightmare last night. He definitely wasn't ready to let Granger slip through his fingers.

* * *

Hermione unpacked her bag in her hotel room while she reflected on her last interaction with Malfoy. She was greatly uncomfortable with the intimacy she had allowed to happen. She was drunk off festive joy and brandy and it resulted in sleeping with Malfoy. Harry wasn't even allowed to spend the night at her flat.

It wasn't a lie that Hermione didn't like to celebrate New Years. Normally, she didn't like to celebrate Christmas either, but she was having a fun few weeks so she went with her slightly festive mood. Spending New Years with a bunch of snakes and her two friends sounded dangerous. Dangerous because she couldn't get more intimate with Malfoy and a small party seemed like it was going to get too close to a line she'd already drawn. No emotional attachment.

So, here in Greece, she'd find a partner to make her forget about the deep sleep she had in his arms, or forget about the fact she was having a lovely time with him even without shagging or that was all she wanted to do was shag his brains out. The whole situation had become complicated when so many seemingly insignificant things had happened between them.

She huffed in frustration, took two shots of firewhisky and went to get ready for the club she was most successful at for finding partners.

After only a couple drinks at the club's bar she was feeling tipsy. She scanned the dance floor and spied a pretty black haired girl in a similar miniskirt to her own. She was dancing with a group of girls, which was promising. Hermione walked up behind the girl and gently touched her wrist. The girl turned and smiled. In Greek, Hermione yelled over the music that she liked the girl's top and ran her fingers lightly up the inside of her wrist before fingering the hem of the girl's shirt. The girl thanked her, in Greek, took Hermione's cue and started grinding her hips to the beat of the thumping music, against Hermione's own hip.

The two broke away from the group and continued to sway to the music. A few men tried coming up behind them to hopefully join in, but Hermione aggressively pushed them away. She had no interest in sharing with a man tonight. The girl told Hermione she wanted a drink and pulled her to the bar. Hermione bought them both a shot and giggled at the girl's grimace after they had downed the sweet liqueur. Her eyes snagged on a familiar tall blond opposite the bar. Instantly furious, she excused herself and marched up to him. "What the fuck do you think you're doing here?" She yelled over the music.

"Same as you Granger, scoping out the local talent. You shouldn't have given away your best spot," Malfoy grinned down at her. "Nice skirt, by the way."

"I didn't tell you where I was going. Sod off, this is  _my_  vacation," she was interrupted by the raven haired girl's hand on her waist.

The girl asked in Greek if Hermione knew the man, she replied in the affirmative too late before seeing her date's eyes run up and down Malfoy's body. She inaudibly sighed angrily.

Malfoy didn't miss the gesture, "Draco," he said simply before kissing the girl's hand. She giggled and called a name Hermione didn't care to hear. He pulled the dark haired girl's hand out to the dance floor, giving Hermione an evil grin, knowing he had won over her date.

She growled and turned back to the bar and ordered another shot. If she was going back to her hotel alone tonight, she may as well be hammered. Before she had a chance to drink it, her hand was tugged on by the girl. On the dancefloor, the girl sandwiched herself between Hermione and Malfoy, clearly enjoying herself. Hermione's anger was squashed when the girl crushed her mouth to Hermione's and speared her mouth with her tongue. Completely forgetting about Malfoy's existent, she ran her hand through the girl's hair and trailed her other hand up her thigh to grab her bum. Her hand was stopped by Malfoy's leg.

Not leaving her date's mouth, she flicked her eyes up to his, which were hooded in lust. He jerked his chin to something behind her and she squeezed his thigh in agreement. He grabbed the raven haired girl's hand and towed them to what turned out to be the women's lavatory.

They checked in the stalls to ensure they were alone then the dark haired girl threw herself into Hermione's arms and continued to kiss her. Hermione looked to see Malfoy wandlessly locking and silencing the room. Now at ease and suddenly feeling very sober, Hermione backed up against the wall and slid her hands up the girl's shirt to play with her breasts. Draco pulled the dark hair off the girl's shoulder and started licking and sucking her neck, not taking his eyes from Hermione's. Desire hit Hermione like freight train and she dropped to her knees to pleasure the girl with her mouth. With her skirt hitched to her hips, Hermione ferociously licking her sensitive bud and Malfoy devouring her mouth, the girl was a puddle of pleasure.

Hermione stood and took Malfoy's mouth from the girl's to share the Grecian's flavour. Malfoy moaned into her mouth and grabbed her arse, pulling the girls harshly together. The girl's hand found its way up Hermione's skirt and started rubbing slowly causing Hermione to sigh back into Malfoy's mouth. He sucked her tongue and she felt she might melt. The girl latched herself onto one of Hermione's nipples and she felt herself ripening for an orgasm. Encouraged by her moans, the girl dropped and began to use her tongue on Hermione. Quickly taking advantage of empty space between them, Hermione unzipped Malfoy's trousers and pulled out his cock, stroking it faster and faster as she came. His stormy eyes never leaving hers. The eye contact made Hermione feel dizzier than she ever had after an orgasm.

Malfoy yanked the girl into a standing position, put a hand on her belly and silently cast what Hermione assumed was a contraception and disease charm. He bent his knees and slid inside the raven haired girl from behind. She let out a loud, high pitched moan. Hermione could have come again from the sound. She dragged her eyes away from Malfoy's and she tugged the girl's shirt up to give her breasts attention. She heard Malfoy moan in immense pleasure at the sight and speed up his pace.

Soon, the girl let out a loud, long, strangled moan and yelled something in Greek that Hermione's brain couldn't comprehend at that point.

"Ask her if she came," Malfoy ordered roughly. Hermione complied and the girl nodded her flushed head.

Swiftly, he pulled out of the girl and took Hermione by the waist and lifted her to the bathroom counter, positioning himself between her legs. Hermione reached out and pulled the girl to her mouth as Malfoy cast another wordless contraception and disease charm on her own belly. She cried into the girl's wanting mouth as Malfoy plunged into her. He groaned as she wrapped her legs around his waist, "Fuck, Granger!"

The girl continued to kiss Hermione and tweaked her nipples with her fingers as Malfoy aggressively shagged her. Hermione guided the girl's right hand down to her clit and she took the hint to rub vigorously. All of her muscles seized as she felt her second orgasm barrel its way through her. Malfoy buckled forward,panting, and braced his hand on the mirror Hermione was leaning her head on, "Granger, I'm going to come. I - " his own orgasm cut himself off.

Hermione's core tightened and she felt a wave of heat wash over her already flushed face and chest at the sight of Malfoy's face of ecstacy.  _So much for not shagging him until after New Years_ , she mockingly scolded herself.

The girl transferred to kissing Malfoy and ran her hand over Hermione's thigh. She whispered something that Malfoy didn't understand, he looked to Hermione.

She laughed lightly and scooted herself off the counter once Malfoy pulled out of her. "She said she had fun and thanked you for suggesting the loo."

Hermione replied in Greek, that they had fun as well. The girl smiled and made for the door. Malfoy quickly zipped himself back up and cast a silent  _Finite Incantatem_  behind the girl to unlock the door. The pair followed her out to find a long line of angry women shouting curses at them in Greek.

"Take me back to your room," Malfoy yelled over the music to Hermione.

Forgetting her past irritation at him, she nodded.

* * *

"What, Malfoy? Not everyone can afford to stay at the  _Four Seasons_." Granger scoffed at his reaction to her room.

"It's just, this room and your flat, come on, Granger… A little glamour didn't hurt anyone," he goaded kicking off his shoes and grabbed her bottle of firewhisky. His heart was still pounding from their session in the club. He knew she was different these days, but he didn't expect that to  _actually_ happen. Draco took a drink straight from the bottle and sat on the uncomfortable sofa.

She scoffed louder, "Is this how it is with you? You shag women then insult them?"

He made a sweeping gesture over his body and gave an incredulous look, "Obviously, Granger." He held the bottle out to her.

Granger laughed while she rolled her eyes and grabbed the bottle for a swig. "I suppose I should have known what I was getting into." She sat down on the sofa and flung her legs over his lap.

Draco couldn't help his hands that immediately gripped her thighs. Blood rushed back to his cock as she gasped.

"Again?" She challenged with a grin and cocked eyebrow.

Without bothering to answer, Draco lunged for her mouth and literally ripped her tank top off her. Granger moaned loudly into his mouth. She roughly popped all the buttons off his black Oxford and attacked his throat with her mouth. He gripped her head and pulled her on him so she was straddling him, once again. She pecked him on the mouth before she slid off his lap to slowly peel off her bra, skirt and ruined knickers.

He breathlessly watched her, completely entranced by her smooth movements. Draco shoved his trousers and pants down to his knees and began stroking himself. She slowly sashayed up to him and dropped to her knees in front of him.

Draco couldn't recall being harder, he may have fainted if anymore of his blood rushed to his cock. Her soft mouth descended upon his prick and he inhaled sharply and unintentionally bucked into her mouth. "Sorry." He apologized raggedly.

In response, Granger opened her throat and took him nearly to the hilt. She briskly continued to pleasure him with her mouth. He moaned loudly and felt himself sputtering to say some words of encouragement but she removed her mouth. Swiftly, she sat down on his cock and let out a loud moan.

He shifted off the rest of his shirt and slid his hands up her hips to her breasts. She threw her head back and rode him hard. His mouth sucked her throat hard then descended on her perky nipples and she grabbed the back of his head, ruffling his hair.

"Help me," she whispered.

He obeyed and grabbed her hips and bucked into her at the same pace she had set. She braced her hands on either side of his head on the back of the sofa and he was rewarded with a perfect view of her breasts bouncing. He licked from her nipples to her cleavage, which elicited a loud whine from Granger as she picked up her pace.

"I'm going to - oh, Merlin! Draco!" She shouted his name as she finished.

He roared in pleasure at the sound of his given name on her lips and at the tightness around his cock. Knowing he wouldn't last much longer, he moved a hand from her hip to her clit and began to rub in circles as he pumped in and out of her.

Once he was sure she finished again, he let himself go.

* * *

Hermione unsteadily lifted herself off him and threw her naked, sweaty body onto the bed. She felt completely sated. Her endorphin high and firewhisky remnants lulled her into a delightful sleep, unaware of Malfoy already snoring on the sofa.

* * *

It was still dark outside the window when she was awoken by Malfoy shouting incoherently.

She sat upright immediately and hurried to the couch where he was slumped to the side, convulsing. She tried to rouse him by smacking his cheek and whispering, "Malfoy. Hey, wake up."

Impatiently, Hermione wretched him upright and smacked him across the face as hard as she could, "Draco!  _Wake up!"_

His eyes snapped open, full of fear. He grabbed her cheeks and then pulled back slowly and stared at his hands. His head fell to his hands and he began to sob uncontrollably. Hermione uncomfortably made to stand to owl Theo so he could deal with this mess.

Malfoy's Seeker reflexes kicked in and he snatched her wrist before she was upright, "No. Please don't. Stay with me, please," he pathetically whimpered.

She internally cringed. This wasn't what she had signed up for. But she couldn't just leave him like this. He was obviously struggling with whatever he had been dreaming about. So she grabbed the blanket from the bed and curled up on the sofa in front of him. He settled in behind her and deeply inhaled her hair and neck. "Thank you," he muttered before falling back asleep.

Hermione didn't sleep much the rest of the night. She felt supremely uncomfortable about the level of intimacy that was his arm tightly tucked against her hip, his breath tickling her cheek, his legs entwined in hers. All she wanted from him was a good shag once in a while, not a snuggle buddy. Although, this was ultimately her fault for letting him sleep with her on Christmas night and for not owling Theo tonight.

She knew he went through a lot during the War, but so did she and Harry. Harry didn't ask her to sleep with him or cuddle him. Hermione thought it had been safe to get involved with Malfoy because he was the least emotional person she knew. Well, as an adult at least. In his younger years he was dominated by his temper and fear. She let herself believe he grew out of that behaviour, which was clearly not the case.

By seven in the morning she decided she would quietly pack up her things, sneak out and find a new hotel. She didn't intend on getting back in touch with him or shagging him again (much to her disappointment) and felt an Irish goodbye would be easiest. The plan made her stomach ache. But perhaps that was just the liquor from the club, not any sort of affection she had for Malfoy.

Easing out of his grip slowly, she quietly threw a white sundress on over her naked body. She was nearly done packing her bag when two sharp silver eyes stopped her in her tracks. She had been caught. "I didn't mean to wake you," she admitted.

"You're leaving," he said in a low voice, not questioning, but accusing.

"Yes."

"Why?" He sat up, pulled and buttoned his shirt back on and pulled up his trousers.

Her temper flared, "'Why?' Are you honestly asking me that? I made it clear I didn't want to date you. That, last night," pointing at the sofa he was sitting on, "was too much. I didn't sign up to be your sodding helper."

Malfoy stood and quickly closed the space between them, "You have no  _fucking_ idea what you're talking about!" He yelled in her face.

"And I don't  _fucking_ care! I told you that! I'm not your girlfriend, I'm not even your friend! I just wanted to shag you. I thought you understood that!" She shoved him away from her.

He rushed her and pinned her body against a wall with his, "I don't need you. It's laughable that you think that I wanted  _you_  of all people to help me. You've made my life a living hell!" Malfoy punched his fist straight through the plaster next to her head.

Hermione twisted her body as he threw off his balance to punch the wall to escape. She grabbed his shirt and trousers at his right hip, grabbed under his left arm, kicked her right leg to hook behind his right leg, dropped him onto her right hip and threw him away from her.

He blinked twice in shock from the ground.

She spat at the ground in front of him, "Fuck off, Ferret." And Apparated to Grimmauld Place without her things.


	11. Chapter 11

** A/N: WELL. I hope you enjoyed last chapter because, in the words of the great Eminem, "this shit's about to get heavy". Leave me some reviews!  **

** Disclaimer:  ** *pulls off J.K Rowling mask Mission Impossible style* HaHA! You were fooled! I'm not J.K Rowling! And all this money I've made from this story? They're notes with my face on them! 

* * *

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

Harry woke immediately at the sound of an Apparation pop from downstairs. He grabbed his wand and glasses and quietly stalked down the stairs, on high alert. His job demanded a certain amount of paranoia, he had certainly pissed off enough of the right people.

“Harry?”

Harry let down his guard, “‘Mione? Thank Merlin you said something, I would’ve blown your bloody head off!” He yelled down the stairs.

She met him in the hallway and threw herself into his arms, crushing her mouth to his.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back, still affected by his morning glory. “Wait, I thought you didn’t want -”

She cut him off with another kiss and pushed his lounge pants down, arching her groin into him.

“Hermione, wait. Stop. What’s -” He pushed her shoulders to his arms length. This time he was cut off by her tears. He hadn’t seen Hermione cry since the War.

Harry pulled up his pants and caught her in time as she collapsed into a sobbing mess.

Hermione crushed her face into his bare chest, both tangled on the floor in the hallway at Grimmauld Place.

“I d-didn’t want this,” she heaved between sobs, “I can’t-t-t handle another one.  _ Harry!” _ She yelled his name as she sobbed harder still into his neck.

Harry had no idea what happened, but based on the deep purple love bites on her throat, it was probably something to do with Malfoy. He felt rage burn in his chest, “What did he do?”

This caused Hermione to sob loudly, “N-n-nothing. I- What’s wrong with me? Why am I like this? H-H-How -” she started hiccuping then hyperventilating. She was uncontrollably shaking and her soggy eyes were filled with terror.

“It’s okay, love. You’re having a panic attack. It’ll pass, I promise. I’m right here. I’ll keep you safe,” Harry cradled his best friend in his lap and rocked her as her terror wracked her body. He whispered assurances in her ear and brushed her hair away from her face. Just like he did for Ginny when she had her attacks. 

After an hour, her panic had subsided and her tears were dry. He guessed she probably felt numb and utterly depressed, at least that was how Ginny had described it.

Her head still rested against his chest she asked, “Why do you still love me? Why do you keep shagging me when I’m so frigid?”

Harry kissed her forehead and answered her with brutal honesty he’d been afraid of for years. “Because I hope one day to see the girl I met at Hogwarts again. The girl who saw the best in someone as awful as Malfoy, despite all that he had done to her. The girl who, for six years straight, helped me and Ron with our homework because if there was one thing she was more than brilliant, it was loving.” He rested his forehead on the crown of her head, “And as for the shagging, that’s easy, you’re brilliant at it. You’re not the brightest witch of our generation for nothing.” He smiled hoping to rouse some joy from her.

She smiled weakly. “When did she disappear?”

“I don’t think she’s disappeared, just hiding behind a thick coat of armor.” Harry replied.

“When?” she demanded.

Harry sighed, not wanting to bring it up during her state, but he knew she wouldn’t let it go. “After you were told your parents’ memories couldn’t be restored. I think that broke you in a way Bellatrix, Voldemort, Umbridge and even Malfoy couldn’t. Ever since then you’ve pushed people away so, what I suspect, if they leave or die it won’t hurt as much.”

“Is that why you try to get yourself killed on all of your assignments?” she asked bluntly. 

Harry didn’t respond, letting the question chill him to his bones. He knew the answer. He knew it was why he lost the love of his life. He knew it was why Ron reminded him near constantly, that he was Freddy and the soon-to-be-born baby’s Godfather. But it was what he needed. It was how he survived.

Hermione was silent for a long time, before she muttered, “‘War is a curious thing, don’t you think?’”

Harry invited Hermione to stay with him until she went back to work. He knew the holidays were difficult for her and after her sudden meltdown he didn’t want her to be alone. They sat in the large dining room with cups of steaming tea. It had only been a couple of hours since the incident in the hall.

“Will you stay in my room with me? I want to be there if you have any nightmares,” Harry requested.

Hermione rolled her eyes, “I’m fine, Harry. I don’t need you to watch me constantly, I’m not going to off myself. Besides, I don’t have nightmares, I don’t dream at all.”

Harry glared at her, “I don’t think you realise what just happened. My best friend just showed up at my flat, unexpectedly, tried to shag me then broke down into tears. I haven’t seen you cry since the War, Hermione. That’s a bit more than worrisome! You haven’t shown any emotions other than irritation and anger for years and now you’re annoyed I want to keep an eye on you?!” He had stood in the middle of his rant.

She stood to meet his eyeline, “It wasn’t exactly pleasant for me, either! I’ve worked hard to keep those messy emotions away and now - now you’re keeping me from moving on from it! Just butt out, Harry. And yes, I’m annoyed because you’re being annoying!”

“No!” Harry banged his fist on the wooden table, “No more of this shite! I’m not going to tiptoe around you anymore, ‘Mione! We’re adults now and if you want to hex me, go for it but it won’t fix you. You need to confront what happened to you! Bellatrix, your parents. Crookshanks, for Godric sakes! You showed no grief towards your familiar’s death!”

Hermione’s wand was now pointed at Harry, “You didn’t seem to care when you were getting shagged consistently and had a friend who never questioned your suicide wish of a job!”

Harry was visibly wounded, he couldn’t believe that’s what his best friend thought of him, “Is that really what you think? That I only care about your emotional wellbeing now that you’re shagging Malfoy?” He asked in a whisper.

“It’s pretty obvious Harry! You couldn’t stand him all throughout school, you were basically obsessed with him in sixth year! Maybe you’re not jealous I’m shagging him, but that you’re not,” she goaded, her wand not lowering.

“Fucking STOP, HERMIONE!” Harry roared, “Look at how you’re talking to me, look at how many people are sticking by you regardless to how nasty and cold you are to them. Me, Luna, even Malfoy. I love you and want to -”

“To what!? To see me get right in the head before you go and get yours blown off? You want to talk fuck ups, Harry? Take a look in the bloody mirror. You run around Europe looking for the most dangerous wizards because nothing will live up to Voldemort again. You’ve passed your expiration date for being a hero and now you want to die. Ginny saw and it and even a mess like me saw it, but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to care if you never came back or if Kingsley showed up at my office to tell me you finally failed! So don’t you  _ dare  _ point your finger at me when you’ve actively kept hurting people who love you by refusing to stop. At least I had the decency to distance myself.”

The weight of Hermione’s words dropped Harry back to the bench. He had been selfish by continuing to shag Hermione, the only person who wouldn’t beg him to quit. He ignored his friends’ pleas. He ignored Ginny’s. Not a day passed without Harry remembering how happy she had been with him after the War ended. He had been happy too, he wanted to marry her and have children. But it didn’t fill the hole of being an ‘expired hero’. His hunts didn’t make him feel accomplished or like he had saved more people. Fred, Tonks, Remus, Moody, they were all still dead because of him.

Hermione lowered her wand but still stood, eyes on fire, “What? Say something!”

“You’re right.”

That seemed to surprise her, “What?”

“I’m no better than you. Neither of us dealt with the ordeal we went through and covered it up with violence and sex.” Harry hung his head, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m sorry I dragged you down with me.”

“Stop it! Fight me!” She barked. When he didn’t respond she exploded the teapot between them. “I don’t want to do this!”

Hermione fired a knockback jinx at Harry. He hit the wall behind him but made no attempt to retaliate. He deserved whatever punishment she doled out, he had failed her for years.

“Get up and fight back!” Tears were now streaking down her cheeks. She flung the heavy table across the dining room and crossed to him. She yanked up his collar and pushed him against the wall.

“No,” he ground out, “I didn’t console you, I didn’t show love the way a friend should have.” He wrapped his arms around her back, locking her against his chest.

She violently thrashed and struggled to get away but his wrist was clasped by his hand.

“I’m sorry.”

Hermione broke into loud sobs. “ Stop it! I don’t want to feel this.”

“I’ll quit. I’ll leave the international department.”

She stopped quaking and looked up at him, “What?”

“I’ll leave my position and join the local Auror force. I’ll do office work, I’ll do something less dangerous.”

“Just like that? Really?” Hermione asked disbelievingly. 

“Well obviously no, not just like that. It took losing Ginny, really seeing how I failed you and I wouldn’t be lying if a couple close calls with death didn’t factor in. I blame myself for you not having better support in your times of need. I was closest to you and I ignored the signs. I’m so sorry, ‘Mione. I did this to you.”

She shifted in his arms, clearly uncomfortable with his proclamation, “I see what all the Slytherin’s were talking about now. Gryffindors really do have a complex.”

Harry chuckled, “Funny you don’t align yourself as a Gryffindor anymore. I mean it, I’ll change to better help you. I see now that the girl from Hogwarts has been through too much to come back, but I want to be here for you so you can evolve.”

After a long silence, Hermione whispered, “What if it’s too late? What if I’m too far gone?”

“Not possible,” he replied and kissed the top of her head. “We can start out with small things. Like, why don’t you ask me about my Christmas?”

Hermione grimaced but complied. A swell of hope filled Harry’s chest. She was willing to try and that was all he could ask from her right now.

* * *

It was New Years Eve and had been two days since Hermione agreed to work on her emotional spectrum. It made her incredibly uncomfortable and impatient to ask Harry mundane questions about his job or about his day. But she found that Harry was different compared to the boy she knew six years ago. She let herself feel guilty that she hadn’t taken the time to get to know the man Harry had grown into.

Harry left for Ron and Romilda’s earlier this morning to spend time with Freddy before the adult celebrations in the evening. Hermione still wasn’t ready to celebrate another holiday without her parents and opted to stay at Grimmauld Place. Harry hadn’t push her, thankfully.

She opted to write out all the horrible things she had encountered in her short life and how it felt to relive them all. Nearly an hour passed after she was pulled out of her painful memories: Ron walking out on her and Harry, her bloody forearm and burning insides from Bellatrix, seeing her dead friends laid out in the Great Hall, the last time she saw her parents’ happy faces, and finding Crookshanks’ body curled in front of the Floo waiting for her to come home from work. Her chest heaved and she allowed herself to cry hard. She had confronted these memories everyday since she arrived at Harry’s.

She hated this feeling, she hated feeling sad but Harry insisted they should let themselves feel it. Having placed her trust in him entirely, Hermione respected Harry’s process. She was still in awe that he was going to leave the only job he’d ever known just so he could be more supportive of her. Her heart felt heavy with sadness and the love Harry was forcing on her. She understood she needed it.

Her mind drifted to Malfoy. Draco. She didn’t understand why their last interaction caused such a dramatic chain of events. Their fight was significantly less violent than when she was mugged but it hurt and scared her more. She, of course, didn’t want to see him because he had obviously started developing romantic feelings for her. Or at least that was what she assumed by his neediness.  _ Not neediness,  _ she corrected herself, _ need for support and comfort _ . Regardless to the change of words, she still felt awkward at the idea of it. She couldn’t even comfort her best friend of fifteen years, instead she had jinxed him. 

Hermione looked out the window from her twin sized bed and sighed. She would be lying if she said she didn’t miss Draco. He seemed to appreciate her for who she was now, not who she was in school, like Harry. She missed having someone around who would make dark jokes and wouldn’t scold her for laughing or whose eyes wouldn’t glaze over when she talked about S.P.E.W or literature. She wondered what he was doing.

Realisation donned on her, he was at Pansy’s house. Today was their New Years celebration. 

She knew she couldn’t see him again. She had to focus on herself and work to be someone who could be loved and who could give love back.

A tear leaked from her eye. She would miss her snake of a friend.

* * *

“It’s about time you showed up, Drake! There’s only an hour until midnight. Merlin, you look like shite,” Pansy remarked as he Flooed into her quiet study.

Draco knew he looked awful. He didn’t care. He resorted to taking two Dreamless draughts every night since he came back from Greece. His skin was becoming a crepey grey and his normally sharp eyes were glossy. He felt like he was in a slight daze when he wasn’t asleep. With his now naked cheeks, he’d never looked more like his father near the end of his life. Draco was spending most of his time in his office, incessantly studying to find out how to make Neville’s blasted potion. “Thanks, I hadn’t noticed. Where is everyone?”

“Never mind that, what’s going on? Talk to me,” Pansy requested, looking genuinely concerned.

“Why? So you can have dirt on me too when you become Minister?” he snarled at her.

“Hey! Knock it off! What. Happened?” Pansy didn’t take Draco’s moody bullshite, which normally he wouldn’t mind but tonight he just wanted to get back home to sleep.

“Was it Granger?”

His dull eyes lit with fire and he stared at her with a warning, “Don’t.”

“Okay, so something obviously happened. Did she break it off?” Pansy rested her hand on his forearm.

Draco shook her off, “No. There was nothing to break off. I - I fucked up,” he admitted self defeated. 

Pansy snorted, “Well I guessed that you had fucked up. That’s kind of your M. O.”

He reluctantly huffed a laugh at his friend’s jab. “It is, isn’t it?” He was silent for a while. “I knew what she wanted. I just didn’t think…”

“That ye, the great Draco Malfoy, would catch feelings?” Theo finished for him standing in the study doorway.

Draco hung his head and heaved out a breath, “Yeah. She’s insufferable! She’s moody, short tempered, sodding psychotic and can literally flip me on my arse. I hated her more than anything in school.”

Theo clapped Draco’s shoulder, “Welcome to the world of unrequited love, mate. According to some Muggle author, we’ll eventually kill ourselves because our lovers die in fantastical circumstances.”

Pansy looked at her best friends with pity and shook her head,“You two are absolute messes.”

“Ye won’t even tell us who you’re shagging, Pansy. How do we know you’re not a mess too? It’s the Slytherin way of life.” Theo shot back.

“Because I picked my lover with much thought and he’s discreet, that’s all that matters to me. I’m happy,” Pansy replied matter-of-factly.

There was a heavy silence between the friends before Theo broke it.

“So did ye at least get to shag her?”

Draco laughed dejectedly, “Yeah, actually. It was the best night of my life.”

* * *

Neville wandered down the long halls of Pansy’s home to find where the other’s went, leaving Luna to chat with the garden gnomes.

_ “So did ye at least get to shag her?” _

_ “Yeah, actually. It was the best night of my life.” _

Neville slowed his pace as he heard the voices, recognizing the voices as Theo and Draco. He turned on his heel to give them privacy before Theo’s voice stopped him.

“Neville? A word?”

He felt his heart leap to his throat as he turned back to the voice to see Theo in the study doorway. Neville swallowed hard and followed Theo to another closed door in the hall as Draco and Pansy brushed past him.

Theo closed the door behind him and stood silently.

“Is Draco okay? He’s not looking great,” Neville enquired, worried about his friend. 

“No. He’s mending a broken heart with too many sleeping draughts (again), booze and probably self mutilation,” Theo responded with a shrug. “I don’t think he’ll off himself but could ye keep an eye on him?”

“Yes, of course. Anything.” Neville replied earnestly.

Theo chuckled and took a step towards Neville. “Ye Gryffindors are so ready to save anyone. Even a snake.” Another step.

“Everyone deserves the chance to be saved,” Neville answered, his voice started to falter as he and Theo were nearly nose to nose.

They silently stood close together, Neville’s eyes glued on Theo’s before the latter’s eyes trailed to stare at Neville’s mouth.

“You’re too good… I’ll ruin ye.” Theo breathed.

Neville’s breath was caught in his throat, his mind simultaneously racing and completely blank. Theo tilted his head slightly, started to close his eyes and descended slowly on Neville’s lips. The contact fried all of Neville’s nerves. He gently pushed his mouth against Theo’s. Taking advantage of the reception, Theo deepened the kiss by prying Neville’s mouth open with his tongue and sought his out. Neville matched Theo’s desire and felt himself growing in his jeans.

Theo grabbed the back of Neville’s neck and increased the intensity of their kiss tenfold. His other hand moved to Neville’s low back and pulled him against his body. Neville gave into the moment and put both of his hands on Theo’s cheeks. Theo moaned over Neville’s tongue when he felt Neville’s erection push against his leg. Neville instinctively ground his hips against Theo and he felt the grips on his neck and back tighten. He’d never been more excited, he didn’t want to stop until… 

“Luna.” Neville regretfully broke away. “I can’t do this to her.” He cast his eyes down.

Theo slowed his breathing and slumped his shoulders, “Yeh, I know. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I just couldn’t… Drake looking like that…” He scoffed at his lack of words.

“Yeah. I know. Thank you for doing it though, I never would’ve had the courage.” Neville blushed and gave a shy smile.

“Would ye listen to that? I have more courage than a bloody lion,” Theo grinned. He put a crooked finger under Neville’s chin, forcing him to meet his gaze. “I know I have no right to say this, but I don’t regret this. I have wanted ye for a long time, Neville. I also know ye have some life choices to make. If this was just a one-off experiment for ye, please spare me the pain of chasing a straight man and tell me. If not, I’m here. Take all the time ye need.” 

Neville just nodded, not knowing how to respond. 

Theo reluctantly pulled away and walked to the door, “Oh and please don’t go for a run because of this. At least not by yourself. I promise not to attack ye if we just remain friends. Agreed?’

“Agreed,” Neville croaked.

Theo left the room, leaving the door ajar. 

_ “Hello Theo, is Neville still in there?”  _

Neville’s heart stopped as he heard his girlfriend’s familiar dreamy voice.

_ “Em, yeh. Thanks for letting me borrow his ear.” _

Luna appeared through the door, “Hi, Love. Is Theo okay? I assume he must be upset about Draco’s wellbeing.” 

“Yeah, he’s asked me to keep an eye on Draco,” he couldn’t bare to look her in the eyes.

She gazed for a short few seconds at his downcast eyes then rubbed Neville’s back lovingly, “You’re a good man, Neville Longbottom. No matter what, you do the right thing.” Luna smiled up at him and pulled his hand, “Come, it’ll be midnight soon and we must scare off the Blibbering Humdingers if we’re to have a good year!” 

* * *

“What did you want with Longbottom?” Pansy asked when Theo entered the kitchen.

“Just wanted him to keep an eye on Draco when ye an’ I aren’t around,” he grabbed a fizzy drink from the refrigerator. 

“Good idea. Is that all you talked about?” she asked cocking her eyebrow at his clearly flushed face.

“Piss off, Pansy.” he snapped back.

“Whoa! What’s your problem? How did I end up friends with two men who are more moody than I am?” Pansy raised her hands in exasperation. 

Theo rubbed his eyes, “I want a bloody drink! You’re supposed to get tossed at the holidays.”

“I wanted to talk to you about that, Theo. Do you think you might want to cut back on the drink a bit? Drake mentioned you were out of your tree Christmas morning,” Pansy rested her hand on Theo’s crossed arms.

“Yeh, that’s our tradition. It was no different from every other year,” he shrugged.

“That’s a lie and you know it. This shite about unrequited love has sent you into a bloody tailspin. I’m happy you haven’t been off on your trips since November, but Merlin, Theo. I hardly ever see you dry these days.” Worry dripped off each word.

“Look, I’m watching Neville and Drake and now I’ve gone and muddied everything up. I’m not going on trips anymore. I need a way to relax, woman! I’ll lose my damn head at this rate!” He snarled at her and shook her hand off.

“Theodore Nott! I will not have you killing yourself because you’re worried about others. Drake and Neville are grown ups. Don’t lie to yourself when you think you’re the only thing keeping them alive. Draco knows he has to get clean and he can do it, just like he did last time. Neville obviously has some shite to sort out now, but again, he’s an adult and has Lovegood. Not everything rests on your damn shoulders. Get your head out of your arse and dry out a bit. Okay?”

He didn’t respond, but glared at her.

“Besides, do you really think Longbottom would love a fat, smelly drunk?” She taunted.

Theo angrily rolled his eyes and stormed out of the kitchen.

 

Pansy knew Theo had a good heart and wouldn’t deny her. He may be a Slytherin, but he loved her and Draco more than anything. They were his only family now and he wouldn’t hurt his family. 


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Well I'm a dumbass. There's one more chapter after this. And because I'm far too excitable to not finish this story today, I'll upload them both! Thanks for your patience and feedback, it makes me want to write more!**

**Disclaimer:** I'm running out of witty material. I think of these bloody jokes first thing in the morning with my uploads so I'm pretty proud I've made it this far. I don't own  _Harry Potter_  and I don't make money off this wash.

* * *

CHAPTER TWELVE

"How was your trip?" Luna asked as she dunked her tea bag into one of Hermione's gold trimmed teacups. It had been nearly three weeks since Hermione's stay at Grimmauld Place.

"I ended up coming back to London the next day. I spent the four days I was meant to be in Greece at Grimmauld Place. Harry spent New Years with Ron and Romilda. I reread 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Brontë. I went back to work on January 3 and it's been back to my familiar routine since," Hermione replied as she munched a biscuit. "How was New Years at Pansy's?"

"It was delightful. We chased away Blibbering Humdingers so we should all have a lovely year. Pansy made some delicious spinach puffs and I moved out of the cottage before I went back to work on the 3rd as well."

Hermione stared at her friend for a few moments for any sign of a smile because that had to be some sort of joke. "You moved out? Luna, what happened? I thought everything was great."

"Oh it still is, Hermione! Neville and I will continue to be good friends. I know he doesn't see it now, but he needs space and time to himself." Luna serenely reassured her.

"I'm confused. What happened?" Hermione furrowed her brow, it had only been three weeks since she last saw Luna and Neville and everything had seemed right as rain.

"It's not for me to talk about, but you could ask him. I think later though because he's still quite sad. He could use your company." Luna sighed, "I'm sad too and I miss him very much, but this is for the best, for him. I'll always love him."

"I'm sorry you're hurting, Luna. Neither of you deserve this. Is there anything I can do for you?" Hermione asked, feeling uncomfortable with the gesture but that probably meant she was doing the right thing for her friend.

Luna's eyes lit up in delighted surprise, "Oh yes! I would love for you to come for dinner at Daddy's house again. We had a wonderful time with you. We could go fishing for freshwater Plimpies! We have an excellent recipe for freshwater Plimpy soup."

Hermione squeezed her friend's hand and smiled, "Of course, Luna."

* * *

Hermione laid in her bed with a book on her lap reflecting on her day with Luna. She felt sad that Neville and Luna didn't work out as a couple and even worse that Neville was apparently in a bad state. She would Floo over to the cottage once she was off work tomorrow. She privately felt very proud of herself for showing empathy today, despite the discomfort that came with it. Her progress since Grimmauld Place was coming along nicely. She'd have to remember to owl Harry and let him know she was still keeping her side of their bargain, as Harry had changed his post to the local Auror division.

It was half passed two in the morning when Hermione was woken by a man shouting her name from her living room. She grabbed her wand and threw on her silk dressing gown. The living room was empty.

"Hermione! Quickly, come to the cottage!" Neville's panicked voice came from her floo.

Without a second thought, Hermione was in Neville's living room staring at a horrific scene. "What happened?!"

Neville had a bloody blanket pressed to Malfoy's left forearm and was sweating profusely. Malfoy's skin was sprinkled with his own sweat and looked nearly grey, his jaw was slack. He had dozens knife wounds varying in sizes over his chest and biceps. Some were freshly scabbed, others looked red and angry as if on the verge of infection. "Heal him, please! I - I can't. The blood..." Neville barked, who looked close to fainting.

Hermione pushed Neville aside and gently lifted the blanket. There were nearly a dozen grizzly cuts all over his faded Dark Mark, though they looked carefully placed to avoid a lethal cut to the arteries, some were too deep. Hermione swallowed the rising bile in her throat and healed each cut with her wand. "Neville, go get some restorative potions. He's lost too much blood and it looks like he needs… I don't know. Why does he look like that?"

"He's been using too many Dreamless Sleep draughts. He'll have to detox but I can get something to ease that. I'll be a moment, I have to Floo to work. I can't Apparate like this." Neville looked positively green.

Stopping him by grabbing his hand, Hermione touched Neville's cheek, "It's okay, he'll be okay. You did the right thing, in time. Hurry back."

Neville nodded and disappeared through the Floo.

Hermione allowed herself to look at her ex-lover. She noticed the heavy purple bags under his eyes and his gaunt, hairless cheeks.  _Merlin, Draco, what have you done?_  She sadly thought. Taking a few deep breaths, she calmed her heart rate.  _He will be fine,_ she reassured herself. She rolled up a clean blanket, placed it under his head and covered him with another.

" _Accio_ cup," she called and filled it with water. Once he was revived he'd need a lot of water. With that thought she cast an  _Engorgio_  charm on the cup to hold a litre.

Neville appeared through the Floo with an armful of potions.

"Thank you, Neville. Please sit down and have a cup of water. Place your head between your knees if you feel you might faint."

Neville nodded and  _Accio_ 'd himself a cup of water and laid on his side on the sofa.

Hermione tilted Malfoy's chin up and poured various potions down his throat and waited for the effects to show. She sat and stared at him for nearly thirty minutes, keeping her fingers on his left wrist to keep track of his pulse. If it started to fade or becAme irregular, she would Apparate them to St. Mungo's.

Neville remained painfully quiet, no doubt fearing his panic had killed his friend.

Hermione watched Malfoy's cheeks plumpen, his skin lost its grey quality and the angry red marks across his naked torso and arms disappeared. She felt as if she could breathe again. She didn't know how she was to handle herself if he died on her. The thought made her eyes prick. He was her friend and despite everything, she cared for him in her own twisted way.

His eyes fluttered open and he shot straight up, nearly colliding heads with Hermione.

"What… Are you real?" Malfoy asked with dazed eyes.

"Yes, you sodding git! You scared us! Why did you cut too deep? I hate you but I don't want you to die! " Hermione yelled angrily, her voice cracking with worry on the last words.

Malfoy grabbed her face and kissed her hard, "Don't let me wake up. Don't let me hurt you." His voice was desperate with anxiety and grief.

"Draco," she whispered, "you're awake. I'm real and you're not going to hurt me. I can knock you on your arse if you try. You're awake."

His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted onto his makeshift pillow.

Hermione heaved a sigh and tilted his head to the side so he didn't swallow his tongue, "Well. I think this will be a long night. Do you mind making a pot of tea?"

Neville nodded and padded into the kitchen.

* * *

Neville fiddled with the teacup in his hands as he stared at his unconscious friend.  _Once again, I'm too much of a coward to do the right thing. That's why you don't have a girlfriend, your dream job and your friend nearly died on you. Because blood scared you, you pathetic bastard. Gran had always been right about you, you're nothing compared to Mum and Dad._

"Neville?" Hermione waved her hand in front of him.

"Hm? What? Sorry," Neville blushed.

"It's alright, I asked how you are fairing. I saw Luna yesterday and she told me she moved out," Hermione looked sympathetic.

"Oh. Um, yeah." Hermione cocked her eyebrow at him. "I've been with Luna since I was nineteen. She was my first everything and it feels so awful being without her. There's just… Something happened, 'Mione and I haven't talked to anyone about it. I don't know who to talk  _to._  I think Luna knew for a while, she said I needed time on my own to figure things out without the pressure of preserving her feelings. I feel so  _guilty,_ all the time and now… I feel like I'm going to lose my head." Neville's eyes shined with tears.

Hermione looked as if she was thinking, took a breath and replied, "I'm here to listen, Neville. I want to help you feel better. Whatever you tell me I won't repeat to anyone." She took his hand in hers.

Neville took a deep breath and spoke the words that had been rattling in his head since Luna left, "I cheated on Luna."

Hermione's eyebrows nearly shot through her hairline, "Oh. I wasn't expecting that. Does she know?"

"Yes. I cried the whole time and she just consoled me and told me it was alright." Tears streamed down his cheeks and down his jaw. "How pathetic is that? My girlfriend of over five years telling me what I did is okay because I couldn't man up and keep my emotions in check!" Neville pulled his hand back and hid his face.

"I… I don't know what to say, I don't know the circumstances. You don't have to tell me, but I'm sure there were good reasons if Luna forgave you?" Hermione's statement came out more like a question.

Neville wiped his face and sniffed, "It was Theo. We kissed at Pansy's New Years party."

"Oh. I wasn't expecting that either," Hermione dumbly repeated. "I didn't know you fancied blokes."

"Neither did I. Or do I? I don't know, I've only thought about Theo like that. But I suppose I've been thinking about Theo like that for a while. It got worse when…" Neville let out a long slow breath. "Do you know why I left my job at Hogwarts?"

"No."

"I couldn't stay because everywhere I went in the castle I saw Lavender's body, Fred's body - all of our friends, first years being tortured, that vile snake slithering around… So I started running until my feet would bleed. Which is why I need a cane to walk. Theo asked me to tell him when I'd go so he could come. He's come with me on my runs since Luna left. He stops when he's too tired to go on, which stops me from hurting myself. There were a few times I would fight him to keep going and I'd say foul things to make him leave me to continue. But he never left and I haven't needed a cane since. I made the mistake of going without him, but I didn't hurt myself because I wanted to dance at Malfoy's Yule ball but Theo was still furious. For a while, I didn't run because I was too cowardly to face him. For once my cowardice came in handy."

Hermione immediately swatted at him, "Neville Longbottom! Since you were eleven, you've been brave in your own way. You stood up to Harry, Ron and I, winning Gryffindor the house cup! You cut Nagini's sodding head off and won us the War!" Her yelling caused Draco to groan and roll over. She resumed at a lower volume, "You are one of the best people I know, so don't you dare talk about yourself like that." She took a calming breath and continued, "It sounds like Luna is right though, it sounds like you need to evaluate where you stand with Theo. From my perspective, it sounds like he really cares for you and you for him. So, did you like it when he kissed you?"

Neville blushed deeply and coughed, "Yeah. Merlin, Gran would be rolling in her grave if she could hear me now."

Hermione tsk'd and rolled her eyes, "And Ron will lose his head when he finds out I shagged him," jerking her head towards Draco. "Who cares what others think as long as you're happy."

"Were you happy with him?" Neville asked, watching Draco sleep.

"Yeah, but I'm too broken to be happy with someone else. At least for right now." Hermione sighed.

"He was happy too, y'know. Happier than I've ever seen him. Whatever it was you two were, it seemed to work in both of your favours. Take it from someone who is in a quarter life crisis: don't keep running. It'll get you nowhere but broken hearts and unfair choices."

"Neville?" Draco croaked, causing both of them to jump. They ran over to his side.

"Alright, Draco? You gave us a right scare." Neville knelt down next to him.

"Sorry, I was stupid and angry. I didn't try to off myself. If I wanted to, I would've done it a long time ago. Thanks for your help." He replied, keeping his eyes at the floor under Neville's knees.

"It wasn't me, thank her. Without 'Mione, you'd have been a goner," he jerked his thumb behind him in Hermione's direction.

Draco's eyes flicked up to Hermione's then back to the floor.

Neville grunted as he stood, knees cracking, and said, "I think I'll get some sleep, if you'll be alright, 'Mione?"

She nodded and squeezed his hand.

Once he left the room and Hermione dropped to her knees and took Draco's face between her hands. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

* * *

_Hermione was bloodied, bruised and naked, floating above his parent's dining table, just as Professor Burbage had. She was crying._

" _D-Draco. Please. I love you. Don't."_

_He felt fury and disgust, "You're nothing to me, you filthy Mudblood."_

" _You l-love me, I know you do."_

"Cruico!  _Say it again, Mudblood. Tell me how much you love me._ Crucio!  _Keep screaming, you're getting me so bloody hard._ Crucio!"

_He dropped her floating body onto the table. Her head hit with a crack._

" _Don't pass out on me, Mudblood. You'll want to be awake for this." He unzipped his trousers and jumped onto the table._

_._

_._

_._

"NO! NO!" Draco woke and ran to his desk without regard and sliced into his forearm, screaming the whole time. After the eighth slice he felt calmer, but not how he normally did. He looked down at the blood. There was too much, he'd cut too deep.

Smearing blood along his hallway and door frames he stumbled to his Floo, knowing he wouldn't survive an Apparation. Neville would be sober, unlike Theo and would definitely be home, unlike Pansy. He knew he could only make one trip.

He remembered falling face first out of the Floo and Neville thundering into the room before he fell into unconsciousness.

" _What happened?"_  It was Granger. What the fuck was she doing here? She couldn't see him like this. But he didn't have the strength to tell her.

He felt the potions going down his throat but didn't have the strength to push them away. He deserved to suffer. Again, she was taking care of him when she explicitly told him she didn't want to. He'd scared her and made her utilize the self defense techniques she'd shown him.

His eyes opened suddenly after what felt like a lifetime of being closed. He focused on her and instantly became terrified he was stuck in a dream, "What… Are you real?"

"Yes, you sodding git! You scared us! Why did you cut too deep? I hate you, but I don't want you to die!"

She was yelling at him and it made his heart heavy with joy.

He found the strength to protect her, from himself before he couldn't control the dream anymore. He sat up and kissed her because he may never get to again, "Don't let me wake up. Don't let me hurt you."

"Draco," she whispered, "you're awake." His consciousness was fading.

_She called me Draco,_ he thought pleasantly.  _This must be a dream._

"You're awake."

Darkness swallowed him again.

* * *

Draco felt himself come into consciousness and heard voices. All he could remember was that he was at Neville's and the dream. His first dream in months in which he didn't hurt or kill Granger.

" _And Ron will lose his head when he finds out I shagged him. Who cares what others think as long as you're happy."_

" _Were you happy with him?"_

" _Yeah, but I'm too broken to be happy with someone else. At least for right now."_

Granger. Granger was here. Maybe he hadn't been dreaming. But she called him Draco.

" _He was happy too, y'know. Happier than I've ever seen him. Whatever it was you two were, it seemed to work in both of your favours. Take it from someone who is in a quarter life crisis: don't keep running. It'll get you nowhere but broken hearts and unfair choices."_

Draco felt embarrassed at Neville's observation and wanted to put a stop to it, "Neville?"

* * *

"Don't you ever do that to me again."

He could barely bring himself to took at his saviour. He was embarrassed and ashamed but wanted nothing more than to kiss her and disappear in her.

"Why are you here?" He snapped instead. She dropped his face and he felt empty without her touch.

"What, no 'Thank you for saving my life, Granger. Good thing you're not as stubborn as me or else I'd be six feet under'?" She angrily replied in a pisspoor imitation of him.

"Fine. Thank you for not letting me die, it couldn't have been easy for you. Why are you here?" He slowly sat up, his whole body ached.  _Laying on the wooden floor while dying from blood loss probably didn't help that fact_ , he thought. He wanted her to leave, he knew she didn't want to be here. But he wanted to smother himself in her warm soothing scent. He wanted to get lost in her.

She scowled at him, but helped him sit straight up against the wall, "Neville called me. All that blood sent him into a spin. Probably a side effect from the War."

Draco swallowed and felt crushing guilt. He should have chanced Pansy's or even his Mother's. Neville was the last person he wanted to hurt. Well, second last.

"Why did you cut so deep?"

He didn't respond.

"Was it a bad dream?"

He looked at her with cold eyes and snapped, "Why suddenly all the questions, Granger? I thought you didn't care. You're not my helper, right?"

She visibly flinched and quietly replied, "I don't want you to die."

"Why?" He held his breath and scolded himself for getting excited at such a mundane proclamation. He didn't want Luna to die, that didn't mean he loved the nutter. But he knew it didn't matter. He clearly couldn't live without this annoying, frustrating swot. He needed her. And Salazar curse him, he loved her.

Granger swore under her breath, "I'm not good at this anymore…"

After a long silence, Draco broke it.

"Ever since we had dinner with you and your Golden boys back in November, my nightmares have come back. I had them every night in my early twenties and I got hooked on Dreamless draughts. I got clean and learned to deal with the dreams by cutting myself. I'd heal them whenever I knew someone would see them or when I stopped feeling guilty from the dream. They came less frequently as time went on," He took a deep breath. "Then you come fucking barrelling into my life and the nightmares came back. Everyday I'd see you or think about you too much, I'd have a nightmare. They started out as my memories of watching people die or you getting tortured. Then they turned into a demented mixture of my memories and fears. Mostly revolving around hurting you. Since Greece, I'd been taking two potions a night to keep them away because I've been thinking about you constantly. But a nightmare got through and…" He swallowed hard, recalling it, "and I couldn't handle it. I got carried away because I was angry the potions didn't work and at myself."

"The cuts on your back?" She asked quietly.

"That was carelessness on my part. I had so many on my body I had forgotten about them. You make me lose my sensibility, apparently," he darkly joked.

Granger stared at him blankly. "When Muggleborns and their parents were being killed before the War started, I  _Obliviated_ my parents. I sent them to Australia to be safe. Once the War was over, it was determined it would be too dangerous to try to restore their memories. Now I'll never get them back." She was silent as the words sunk in. She hadn't spoken them outloud before. "I've been pushing people away since. Hannah tried to get through to me but, maybe it was too soon after I found out I couldn't get them back, but I wouldn't let her in. I was cold and cruel to everyone. I thought I could protect myself from getting hurt by people dying or leaving by shutting them out. That's why lovers were perfect for me. That's why I said I didn't care about you because if you died then I wouldn't care. This obviously proves that theory invalid."

"I'm sorry about your parents," he lamely replied, feeling uncomfortable by her very personal admission. But she cared about him. She cared.

She shrugged, seemingly out of habit because her shoulders dropped and she said, "I miss them so much. The hurt never went away." Her eyes started to fill with tears.

Draco, feeling uncharacteristically stricken by the sight and somewhat put off at the outpour of emotion, pat the spot next to him. She scooted her bum next to him and leaned her head on his bicep.

"I'm really trying hard to be the same empathetic, warm person I was. It's so difficult. It's easy to be indifferent and pretend the feelings don't exist. But they're always bubbling away just below the surface." She sniffed and wiped her nose with her dressing gown sleeve.

"Welcome to Slytherin, we're a moody bunch and pretend no one else matters. It's a stupid façade but it makes us the best Dark Witches and Wizards," he teased and poked her ribs. "Besides, the person you were was annoying as shite. I mean you still are annoying, but at least you've got that stick out of your arse. There's nothing wrong with evolving."

She laughed and batted his hand away. Merlin, he missed that sound.

"I'm going to have to detox this shite from my system." Draco said to no one in particular.

"Yeah, that's what Neville said."

"It's not going to be pretty," he shuddered remembering his last detox. "But I'm going to need someone to who can physically restrain me and let me know I'm not going mad." He turned his head to look down at her.

She craned her neck to look back at him, "Are you asking me to be your helper?"

"Do you think you're up to the task? I can pay you for the time you have to take off work, if that's a factor," he offered.

"I'll definitely take your money, I'm not that proud." She sat silently, contemplating the obligation before replying, "Yes, I'll be your orderly. How long does it take?"

"Last time it took a month. But I wasn't double dosing the strong stuff, so I don't know how long it could take this time," he admitted.

She bit her lower lip and thought about it. He wanted to suck on that lip.

"Okay. Where will we be? Your flat?"

"Bollocks, no. That place is filled with intoxicants and blades. My mother gave me the deed to a cottage my father bought for her when they were first married. It's in West Ireland. It'd be a nice vacation for you and a lovely hell hole for me to sweat it out in."

Granger laughed and sighed, "Ireland sounds nice. Can you wait to leave the day after tomorrow? I have to set up a few things at work."

"So do I. Day after tomorrow then," he agreed.

She sighed and settled back onto his arm. She reached for his hand and laced her fingers through his. "You really scared me, you fuck."

"Do I recall you calling me, Draco? The last time you called me that I think you were screaming it," he smiled devilishly. His heart felt heavy at her affection.

"Alright, wanker. Don't get used to it. My mum used to call me 'Hermione Jean' when I was in a lot of trouble, so think of it like that. You'll only get called that during times of  _heightened emotion_. Ick," she stuck her tongue out in disgust.

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. She twisted to peck his lips gently. Draco felt heat surge to all his appendages, completely forgetting his achiness and devoured her mouth. She moaned and flipped onto his lap to straddle him, gripping his hair tightly. Without abandon, he slipped his hands under the hem of her cotton nightgown, grabbed her bum and hoisted them both to a standing position. Draco felt the strain in his quads and slammed her back against the wall to ease his legs.

Granger gasped loudly and held out her wand to the living room doorway, " _Muffliato_."

"Not into exhibitionism, Granger?" he darkly teased against her lips.

"Bugger off," she growled, impatiently discarding her silk dressing gown.

Draco slid his hand up and down her smooth thighs and fought the urge to buck his hips up into her. Instead, he dove for her jawline and left several lovebites. Her airy moans and fingernails over his skin were driving him. He didn't think she'd ever let him feel her like this again. Draco relished every second of it.

* * *

_Something feels different_ , Hermione hazily thought as Malfoy sucked her skin, heaving her higher up the wall to reach her breasts. He felt desperate and hungry for her. The realization sent heat flooding to her already hot center.

"Now, please… Draco," she whispered while pushing down the back of his linen pyjama pants with her heels.

He sighed roughly and attacked her mouth again, shifting down the front of his pants. She held a hand to her belly and muttered the contraception spell.

They shared a breath as he slid into her with ease. Hermione's eyes rolled to the back of her head and moaned longingly. After minutes of his fast pace, she could feel her orgasm approaching by the tingles at the sides of her face. He slowed unexpectedly.

"Look at me," he growled.

Angry at her fleeting orgasm, her flaming honey eyes met his icy greys.

"I won't hurt you," he promised roughly. She was unsure if he was assuring her or himself. Either way, she didn't care at that moment.

"I can best you in a physical and magical fight. I'm not concerned. You interrupted my orgasm," she growled back, squeezing her thighs to further pull him into her.

Draco let out a pained grunt and resumed to shagging her without abandon. Feeling herself peak shortly thereafter, she cried out and dragged her fingernails over his shoulder, careful not to draw any blood.

He groaned into her neck and licked her pulse before dropping her legs and flipping her around so her cheek was pressed against the wall. He pulled her hips back roughly so her bum was off the wall and perpendicular to her torso. He penetrated her and they both moaned loudly. Hermione felt him as he became feral and was plunging in and out of her with a new vigour. She could feel tears prick her eyes as another wave came crashing around her. Her wild yells and groans coaxed his orgasm out of him as his strokes shortened and slowed slightly in pace.

She let her knees buckle under her and slid her slick forehead against the wall, trying to catch her breath.

"I meant it. I won't hurt you," he muttered breathlessly from behind her. He was on his knees and gently caressing her bare shoulder.

"It won't be a pretty couple of months will it?" She suspected his multiple declarations meant he didn't react well to rehab.

He darkly chuckled, "No. If you think I have a bad temper now, just wait two weeks."

She turned to face him, seeing his chest still flushed and heaving, "Perhaps that's best. I need to work on myself and how to handle others' emotions so it's a mutually beneficial relationship."

"There's that optimism I can't stand," he grinned and hooked his elbow around the back of her neck playfully.

She threw her weight forward at him, knocking him onto his back, pulled her neck from his arm and locked his wrists over his head. Suggestively, she straddled his hips and leaned forward to kiss him with heat.

She allowed Malfoy to flip them so she was on her back. He pressed his already hardening bulge into her groin. "There won't be much time for this in Ireland, so we might as well make the most of it while we can," he smirked.

Hermione compiled by throwing her left leg over his shoulder.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Hermione and Draco were in Keel, Ireland for nearly three and a half months. After a month, Hermione started working remotely, impressed that her department had maintained high numbers of freed Elves and continued to update the specifications of living standards.

Draco could still recall his terrifying hallucinations and nightmares about Hermione, his Mother, Pansy, Theo and Neville. He lost about two stone but regained colour in his once greyish complexion. Based on the bruises on his wrists and ankles, he assumed he'd had to be restrained several times and not for the reason he'd like Hermione to be doing so. He felt deathly ill for three months straight, but had never been happier. He'd had Granger a room away from him for the entire time.

She had considered fleeing countless times, writing Harry about her incessant need to bite off more work than she could chew. But the sight of Draco sweaty, gaunt and terrified of seemingly everything kept her there. Even though his complete reliance on her made her feel like squirming out of her own skin, she would remind herself that she needed to be immersed in his annoying emotions just as much as he needed her to slap him back into reality.

Keel showed Hermione a side of Draco that would have sent her running for the hills in December. Over countless sleepless nights together, talking about little nothings while looking over the Atlantic ocean, she grew to deeply care for the pale prat. They shared secrets and fears, ones that would never meet the English air, but would remain hidden in rural Ireland.

Hermione grew to be happy with their twisted life together. She was able to fulfill her childhood dreams of kicking the piss out of Draco most nights, then would then stroke his hair to get him to sleep. She wasn't sure she wanted to leave him once they went home.

* * *

Their return to England was marked by a party at Neville's new flat, just down the road from Hermione's flat.

"A party just for us?" Hermione wrinkled her nose as they dropped their luggage in Draco's foyer.

"So full of herself," Draco tsked teasingly, "No, it was originally a party for Pansy's campaign for Minister and she's graciously agreed to share the spotlight."

She shucked off her shoes and made her way to living room to sit down, "A little soon for her to be running, isn't it?"

Draco shrugged and sat next to her, "Perhaps. Good climate for it?"

Hermione rested her head on Draco's bicep, "Hmm. Are you sure you're ready for tonight? We can just have a quiet dinner once you adjust to having so many people around."

"Yes, Granger, I'll be fine. I'm not a China doll, despite what these past months have led you to believe," he huffed and rolled his eyes.

She laughed and closed her eyes, happy to be back in England. They napped on the sofa until they were half an hour late for the party.

* * *

Neville's new flat was just as quaint as Hermione's but absolutely covered in different types of Muggle and wizard flora.

Pansy was the first to notice their arrival, "Well! The attention hogs finally arrive." She hugged Draco and nodded at Hermione, "It's good to see you. You look, well you look as good as you can for an Albino."

"My bloody facial hair is dark blond and my eyes are grey, not purple. Why does everyone call me Albino?" Draco asked with mock exasperation. "It's good to see you too, Pans. Congratulations on the announcement, hopefully it's a smooth campaign."

"Oh I'm sure it won't be. Kingsley is a good opponent but veteran affairs have been grossly overlooked, so even if I lose, hopefully it'll knock some sense into the Ministry to open some sort of support."

"That's a very admirable campaign, Pansy. I suppose I've been underestimating you Slytherins for years," Hermione chimed in.

"That's for sure, just because Drake was Slytherin's head prat didn't mean we all were," Theo sauntered up to the three of them. "Welcome back, ye two." He embraced Draco and Hermione.

"Just lovely, my two mates start insulting me the moment I walk in the door when they haven't heard from me in three months," Draco huffed.

"Granger here has been keeping us updated on your progress, you junkie. I can't believe you agreed to stay locked up with him in a cottage for three months," Pansy addressed Hermione.

Hermione laughed, "Well, I was paid handsomely for my time. And there were times I wouldn't return to the cottage for several hours." Her eyes found Harry's across the room and excused herself. She flung herself into his equally excited arms.

"Welcome home, 'Mione. I've missed you! I've got loads to tell you. Care for a fag?" Harry exclaimed into her hair.

She pulled back and made a disgusted sound, "You're still smoking, Harry?"

"You'll understand. Come on." He led her out to Neville's cramped patio. "Where to begin," he wondered out loud as he lit the cancerous stick, "Ah yes! Romilda had the baby! I don't know if Ron's had the time to owl you but it's a girl. They named her Isabelle. You should go 'round and see her. I think she's the first Weasley to have brown hair."

Hermione laughed and waved away the smoke curling towards her, "That's wonderful! Romilda's a beautiful woman, that little girl will be lucky to look like her. Speaking of Weasleys, how's Ginny?"

A blinding smile broke out onto Harry's face, "Yeah, she's good. She's been coming 'round for dinners every Saturday. You remember that recreational Quidditch team I joined? She's offered to help me practice to get back into it. I don't want to jinx it, but I'm feeling really hopeful about it, 'Mione."

Hermione's heart was full at the sight. "Well you know what might help, is quitting this shite." She gestured to the cigarette.

"Like I said, I've kept up with it because it's been difficult adjusting to a slower life. I do office work two days a week, recruit training two days and a patrol of nearby villages on Fridays. You know I joined a boxing club in Essex a few months back and now Quidditch, but it's not enough. Some days I feel like I could go stir crazy. This shite keeps me calm." Harry rubbed the back of his neck in shame.

"That's fair," Hermione sighed, "but it's still killing you the way your last job did. This is Ginny's battle now, I've done hard time with you already."

"Yeah, speaking of which, how's that going? It didn't seem easy being Malfoy's keeper." Harry tapped out the cigarette butt.

"It's going well. I still have difficulties with heavy emotions, despite the immersion therapy with him. But small things like, 'how did you sleep?' and 'how was your day?' don't feel like pulling teeth anymore."

"And what of Malfoy now? Are you two dating?" Harry enquired.

"I don't know, perhaps? Ireland was somewhat of a wash for romance and we only just got back this afternoon, we haven't discussed it. I really care for him, though. Enough to keep seeing him." Hermione had a wide smile on her face.

"I think that's wonderful, 'Mione. You seem very content and that's leaps and bounds over where you were just a few months ago," he squeezed her hand, "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, Harry. I'm proud of you too, but it seems having Ginny in your life again is reward enough."

Harry slung his arm around her neck, "I'll always need you. Now, you should go back in. I've hogged you for long enough. I'm sure Luna can't wait to see you!"

* * *

Draco watched Hermione launch herself into Potter's arms and smirked. He was glad she was back with her friends; She sacrificed a lot to stay with him in Ireland.

"So that's going well, I take it."

His gaze shifted back to his two friends who were smiling widely at him, "Shove off, you two. I suppose it is, now that I've stopped hallucinating she's an Inferius. She seems okay, right?"

"For the few moments we had with her, yeah. Seems like good ol' Granger. I'm surprised she didn't run off for more than a few hours," Pansy snarked.

"Honestly, so am I. While we were over there she mentioned that she had some revelation with Potter after I had fucked up before New Years. I think she's working on herself and used me to get the process along faster." Draco shrugged to appear nonchalant. He glanced at the kitchen, "Care for a bev, Theo?"

Theo waved his hand, "Not for me, brother. I'm drying out still. The Wag here," he jerked his thumb at Pansy, "guilted me into it. That and it's done wonders for my waistline. Would ye look at us though," Theo slung his arms around Draco and Pansy's necks, "a bunch of addicts getting their shite together. Snape would be teary eyed with pride."

Draco snorted and shrugged the arm off and went to the kitchen to fix drinks. He poured whisky into a glass and gin into another. He started walking towards the patio where Hermione and Potter were when he felt a big hand clap on his shoulder.

"How I have I missed you, Draco! Come here!" Neville enveloped Draco into a hug while he held his arms out trying not to spill the drinks.

Draco awkwardly cleared his throat, "Alright, Neville? It's good to see you too. Without a cane, no less."

Neville pulled back still smiling, "Yeah, Theo and I still run most days but he stops me from going too far. How've you been? You're looking much better."

"Yeah, I feel better too, thanks to Granger. She kept me in check."

"Sounds like her. Where is she?" Neville asked looking around the flat.

"Just coming in from the patio with Potter. Give her this, will you?" Draco handed Neville the tumbler of gin and watched him walk towards Hermione. Luna appeared from the hall and joined the three Gryffindors.

Draco stood next to Theo, Pansy was nowhere in sight. "Isn't it uncomfortable her being here?" He nodded towards Luna.

"When has her presence ever been comfortable?" Theo snorted. "Since ye've been gone they've kept in touch, they're still mates."

"So does that mean you two…" Draco allowed Theo to fill in the blanks.

Theo waved his hand in response, clearly not wanting to discuss it but continued staring across the room at Neville chatting with Hermione. "You worried Potter's going to take your bird now that they're reunited?"

Draco scoffed into his drink, "She'll never be mine or anyone else's for that matter. She's far too much of a pain to be tethered by a person. Besides, how can she say no to a twice recovering addict?" His heart was heavy knowing she would never fully be his, but he was happy to have her in any way she would give him.

The night passed by as everyone caught Draco and Hermione up on current events, congratulated Pansy and discussed her platform in depth. Draco was ready to find Hermione and shag it out at his flat when Potter cornered him in the hallway.

"Glad to see you're clean," Potter clipped.

"Yeah. Glad to see you haven't gotten yourself blown up. For Granger's sake," Draco glared down at the brunette, unsure of where they currently stood. He couldn't stand Potter, but didn't wish any ill will on him. Again, for Granger's sake.

"What are your intentions with her?"

Draco scoffed, "Really? An intentions talk? She's a grown woman, Potter. You're not her bloody father."

"No, but she hasn't exactly got one of those anymore, does she?" Harry sneered.

Draco felt his temper rising to dangerous levels, "Don't you think I know that? I watched her wallow in that for months! I was there when you had your head so far up your own arse, you couldn't see she was suffering!"

Harry shoved Draco against the wall and started shouting, "How  _dare_ you of all people question my relationship with her! She's been my best friend for fifteen years! You'll always be the prick who made her childhood a living hell! Not only that, you'll always be the person who let her get tortured!"

Draco pulled out his wand and was about to shout a curse at Potter when Hermione stepped in front of him and shoved him back against the wall, knocking his wand from his hand.

"Stop! Draco, stop! Look at me," she grabbed his face and yanked his head down to get him to look away from Potter. Both men were panting and seething in rage. " _Enough._ " She smacked his face and threw his shoulders against the wall again when his eyes didn't move.

"You're awake. Look at me," she whispered low enough so only he heard those magic words.

He wrenched his eyes from Potter's fury filled face and pierced hers. Her eyes were warm honey and he felt his chest loosen. He would happily drown in those eyes.

"Harry, leave."

"'Mione, you shouldn't be alone- "

"I did this for three months. Get out!" She yelled, not leaving Draco's eyes.

The hallway was empty and the party going on in the living room was silent.

"What happened?" She whispered.

"He got under my skin. He always has with his holier-than-thou attitude. He asked about my intentions with you." Draco felt suddenly very tired; closing his eyes, he leaned his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry."

"I don't care about your intentions, I think we're fine with having ambiguity for a while. But you can't jinx my friends just for asking. Thank Merlin, Ron's not here," she sighed.

"I know. You were right, I'm not used to other people yet, I suppose. I'm ready to go home, you can stay if you'd like," He straightened his back.

"I'll come with you. We have some long overdue business to take care of, don't you think?" Her eyes were mischievous as she cocked her eyebrow.

Draco instantly went hard and pulled her to make a quiet exit.

* * *

They had barely finished Apparating back to Draco's flat before they were devouring each others mouths and tearing at their clothes. Half naked, Draco grabbed Hermione and Apparated them up to his bedroom. She immediately dropped to her knees and tore down his trousers and pants. She sucked him off as enthusiastically as the device she'd made him wear to the Ministry's party had.

The clever minx knew he wouldn't last long after three months of forced celibacy. Her tongue pushed up against the underside of his cock as she worked his shaft with her hand. Already, he felt his body tightening for his release. Caught up in the moment, he grabbed her hair and started thrusting into her mouth. Her left hand gently caressed his bollocks and it sent him over the edge. He pulled out of her mouth and finished himself on her naked breasts.

He was still panting when she gently pushed him back towards the bed. He tripped over the trousers that were around his ankles and fell onto the bed. She  _Scourgified_ her chest and his hands, pulled off the rest of his clothes and cast an  _Incarcerous_  spell on his wrists and ankles.

"Blimey, I wish this was what these bruises were from," he moaned as she cast the contraception charm on herself.

She smiled, "I would say that's where I got the idea, but I've wanted to do this to you since you came back into my life." Draco's cock twitched and started to fill with blood as he audibly moaned at her declaration.

Hermione crawled onto the bed, fully naked as well and straddled his face between her legs. She was already deliciously ready for him, it dripped onto his chin. He raised his neck and ate her like a starved man. She cried out and ground herself down onto his mouth. What he would've given to be able to grab her bum at that moment, but he enjoyed being at her whim like this. She continued to rock her hips against his speeding tongue until she found her release.

Almost incoherently, she cast an  _Finite Incantatem_ on his ropes and Draco threw her back against the silk sheets. He lifted her hips, her feet planted on the bed and positioned himself on his knees between her legs before driving his cock into her. She cried out and pulled at the sheets beneath her. He tightened his grip on her delicate hips as he was entranced by her lust ridden face. The sound of skin slapping, deep and high moans filled Draco's flat until Hermione's breathing started hitching and she grabbed at him frantically.

"Don't stop, don't stop! I'm going to come. Please- " Her whole body tensed around him and tears rolled down her cheeks at her powerful orgasm.

Draco let out a feral grunt and flipped her onto her hands and knees. He spanked her bum hard and drove himself into her again. "Oh fuckin' hell, Hermione…" He reached forward and pulled her hair slightly so her bum arched up further against him.

He was fighting a losing battle and was getting close to finishing. He reached one hand underneath her and began rubbing circles on her engorged clit. It earned him a cry from her and an enthusiastic bump of her behind against his hips.

"Oh, Gods! Yes, like that! Draco, don't stop!"

Draco bit down hard on his lower lip, she knew he couldn't hold himself back when she said his name. It was no use, he came inside her, but kept up his pace, determined to give her another. She had earned so much more over the last few months.

Only moments passed before her body tightened around him again and her arms gave out from underneath her. Her moans were drunk and lengthy.

* * *

Hermione's face was still buzzing from her last orgasm when Draco fell heavily next to her. He brushed her hair from her sweaty forehead and gave her a gentle kiss before draping his long arm over her hips.

They slept like that the whole night through and Hermione didn't mind it, not one bit.

* * *

The party died soon after Harry and Draco's row. Hermione and Draco ducked away without a goodbye, but Neville understood why. After being isolated together for three months, he was sure they had developed some sort of special connection. He was feeling hopeful for his friends' budding romance as he walked his last guest, Luna, to the front door.

"Thank you for inviting me, Neville. It was nice to see everyone again," Luna smiled from the doorway of Neville's flat.

"Thank you for coming. It's been too long since we've seen each other." His heart ached at her airy smile. Not a day went by over the last three and a half months that he didn't miss her. But, he felt the sting less and less as time went on. Theo was a good mate to have around to keep him busy and from wallowing during the days that followed their break up.  _Did Theo already leave?_  He wondered before another thought burst through his mind, "Oh! Before you go, I have something for you!"

Neville ran into his guest bedroom and returned to Luna with a little tree with awkward looking red and yellow fruits on it. "It's the cashew tree you asked for months ago. I finally figured out the correct spells for optimal growing and harvesting! I've written it all down here," he handed her a scroll of parchment. "I would plant it on the South side of your father's yard since it needs at least six hours of direct sun."

Luna took the plant and beamed up at him, "Thank you, Neville! You're a good man and friend. I'll owl you when I start harvesting." She kissed him on the cheek and Apparated away.

Neville closed the door and sighed happily. It had been a wonderful evening. He heard dishes being washed in the kitchen and his heart leapt at the realisation of who was still there. Neville walked into the kitchen to see Theo lazily waving his wand at the glass cups cleaning themselves.

"Hope ye don't mind I stayed behind to help tidy. That was a nice thing to do for Lovegood. A very Neville gift," Theo grinned.

Neville's heart raced at the sight. He admired the transformation that had taken Theo since January. They ran at least three to four times a week and since he got off the sauce, he'd lost at least two stone and it showed. His jaw and arms were more defined and the gut he had been trying to work off was nearly flat as a board. Neville shifted uncomfortably as he remembered what Theo had looked like without a shirt on during one of their runs.

Neville cleared his throat and smiled politely, "Yeah, well she had asked for it when we were still together and I'd made a promise."

"I suppose that since ye've finally followed through on that ye won't need to be running as much?" Theo cocked his eyebrow in a teasing manner.

He took a moment before responding, "Actually, I haven't been running recently because of guilt. I just like… spending time with you," Neville rushed the confession out with a blush.

The dishes ceased their washing as Theo's concentration broke. He turned his body to face Neville, who was still standing in the kitchen entryway. "I'm happy to hear that. I've enjoyed spending time with ye too. That and I'm glad to be rid of my drunk's belly," Theo grinned and slapped his hard abdomen.

Without thinking Neville laughed, "Yeah."

Mischief lit in Theo's eyes, "Ye've noticed, have ye?"

Neville flushed a deep crimson and stammered, "I, em, you just look good. It suits you." Feeling a rush of confidence, "Besides, it's not like you were hiding it. How many times have you taken off your shirt on a run while it's only thirteen degrees out?"

Theo crossed the room to Neville, leaving a respectable metre between them. He raised his hands in surrender with a big grin, "Guilty as charged. But it's all thanks to ye. It's done well on ye too, not that it was needed beforehand."

"Well, aren't you cheeky? Does this tactic often work for you?" Neville flirted back.

Theo laughed heartily, "I couldn't tell ye, I haven't played the field in a while and I certainly didn't look like this when I did."

Neville smiled widely at the man who was now inching his way closer and closer to him. He had taken the past few months to evaluate what he wanted but he hadn't spoken to Theo about his decision, unsure how to bring it up.

"Listen, Neville. I don't want to rush ye on your decision nor do I want to make ye feel pressured-"

Neville cut him off before he lost his nerve and crushed his mouth onto Theo's. He had always taken a back seat in their friendship and budding romance and was tired of not being brave. His bravery earned him a sound of surprise from Theo, shortly followed by his back shoved against the doorway he'd just been leaning on.

Theo pressed himself fully against Neville's body and let his hands skim over Neville's shoulders. Their kisses maintained a passionate fire until Theo felt Neville's erection against his leg. To which he moaned into Neville's mouth and ran his hands up Neville's stomach and chest, urging the long sleeve shirt over his head. Neville followed suit and pushed Theo's over his head.

Skin to skin, the men groped and pulled at the other, like they'd both been longing to do so for months prior. Theo grasped the back of Neville's head with his right hand and moved his mouth to suck on the inexperienced man's neck. Neville's closed his eyes and let his head tip back. His cock was painfully hard and had taken the wheel from his brain. He ground his restrained desire into Theo's hip. Theo returned the movement by first grabbing Neville's hip with left hand and pulling him painfully close.

"Ye have no idea how long I've wanted ye," Theo whispered huskily against Neville's flushed throat before returning to his mouth.

Neville groaned and grabbed the back of Theo's neck, panting hard, he replied, "I want - I just don't think I'm ready, but I-"

Theo smiled and gently pecked Neville's slightly swollen lips, "It's alright, don't worry. I'm happy to just do this. I've waited a long time for ye and I can wait longer to take things further. But in the meanwhile, will ye come to dinner with me tomorrow night?"

Butterflies swelled in Neville's already excited chest, "Of course." He couldn't stop smiling as they continued to snog until Theo's left hand tightened its grip on his hip, then he fell back into the lustful state he'd definitely be wanking off to later that night.

* * *

Two weeks after their arrival, Hermione and Draco sat on her familiar navy blue sectional sofa. Draco reading a book about botany, Hermione reading  _Little Women_  with a mangy black and grey kitten purring in her lap.

Hermione lowered her book ever so slightly to covertly observe the man sitting next to her. He grew his facial hair out once they returned to England and she felt a jolt of heat to her core everytime she looked at him. She looked at the little life purring away on her knees and felt the ache of loss as she was reminded how she hadn't given Crookshanks the grieving period he deserved from her when he first passed. She looked at the two empty tea cups on the coffee table accompanied by two tumblers of gin and scotch.

She smiled wearily, feeling the swell of emotion in her chest. She placed down her book and leaned her head on the familiar man's bicep and breathed in his familiar earthy scent. "Find anything yet?"

He growled and rubbed his rough chin, "No. But it would be very helpful if you could pick up a volume and help me instead of reading that rubbish you've undoubtedly read one hundred times already."

"You know I read through five bloody volumes this past weekend! In fact, you should know I've been looking just as diligently as you! You've hardly left my flat since we got back. So I think I deserve a break, thank you. Besides, this book isn't rubbish, it's a timeless classic," she shot back.

Draco rolled his eyes and returned to his pages, "If you had a problem with me sleeping here every night you would've already told me to scram. Admit it, even after four months, you still can't get enough of me." He was cut off by the kitten padding his way onto Draco's lap, "Oi! Granger, will you get this sodding thing off me? These trousers cost three hundred Galleon! Ah, shite," he gave up his protests once the kitten curled up and fell asleep instantly in his lap.

Hermione giggled and watched Draco's exasperated expression soften as he stroked the kitten's back.

"I think I love you," Hermione blurted. The thought hadn't even taken root in her mind before it slipped through her lips.

Draco heaved what looked like a sigh of relief, "I definitely love you, Granger." He smirked and gently kissed her lips before returning to his book once again.

Hermione smiled widely and wondered out loud, "War is a curious thing, don't you think?"


End file.
